Competence requirements for overseas nurses

Media Release 25 February 2009

Overseas nurses competence requirements provide protection

A global shortage of nurses is leading to increasing migration of nurses and overseas-educated nurses are a valuable part of the health workforce in New Zealand says Nursing Council Chief Executive Carolyn Reed.

Each year some 1200 nurses from overseas enter New Zealand and the Nursing Council is responsible for providing the public assurance that they are competent to practice in New Zealand.

“We have a legal responsibility under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance (HPCA) Act to protect the health and safety of New Zealanders by ensuring that every nurse registered here is able to provide safe, effective healthcare,” Ms Reed says.

“Registration is external verification on competence. It can give people confidence when they are sick and frail that they are being nursed by an appropriately skilled health practitioner. As our system of registration protects public safety, so too it publicly affirms the competence of immigrant nurses and it is a useful and important mechanism,” she says.

With increasing numbers of nurses seeking to come to New Zealand, the Nursing Council has reviewed its registration criteria and compared and benched marked its standards with those of other health regulatory authorities in New Zealand and overseas (including the NZ Medical Council, Dental Council and Psychologists Board). Ms Reed says minor modifications have been made to facilitate the registration process by making the guidelines for applicants as clear and transparent as possibly and posting them on the Nursing Council website. They clearly set out the scope and content of required nursing education and practice experience.

“In terms of English language requirements, we have actually made it easier for many nurses by allowing standards to be met over a series of tests rather than in just one test sitting. All nurses (apart from those from Australia) have to take the test. With globalisation, there is no guarantee that because you come from an English speaking country, you are an English speaker and, of course, the ability to understand and to speak English is essential for safe nursing. Under the HPCA Act, nurses seeking registration in New Zealand, must satisfy the Council that their ability to communicate in and comprehend English is sufficient to protect the health and safety of the public. New Zealand nurses traveling to the United Kingdom are also required to pass a language test as part of the registration process.

Ms Reeds says the Nursing Council supports the New Zealand Nurses Organisation warning about the practices of some immigration agencies. There has been some disquiet from nurses who have come to New Zealand only to find once here that they don’t meet registration requirements. But Ms Reed says before coming to New Zealand, nurses can manage their own registration process directly with the Nursing Council.

She says a robust registration process works to reduce the number of complaints about incompetent nursing care and all jurisdictions have similar processes aimed to improve public safety. The Nursing Council routinely meets with equivalent authorities to discuss such issues. In the past two years it has met with authorities in Singapore, Zimbabwe, Australia and England, and this year a visit is scheduled to the Philippines.

ENDS

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