A Nurse Practitioner is a registered nurse practising at an advanced level in a specific area of practice.
Nurse Practitioners must have:
- Prepared at Master’s level of education
- Been approved and registered by the Nursing Council of New Zealand as a Nurse Practitioner.
The title is protected and may be used only by those nurses formally registered by the Nursing Council.
Nurse Practitioners were first introduced in New Zealand in 2000.
Nurse Practitioners combine the roles of:
- practitioner
- mentor
- teacher
- researcher
- administrator.
At present Nurse Practitioners may chose to apply to be independent prescribers. Specific educational and practice requirements must be met for a Nurse Practitioner to gain prescriptive authority.
All information about the Nurse Practitioner role is now available and kept current on one website:
www.nursepractitioner.org.nz