A decision by the New Zealand Nursing Council to pause part of its recertification process will put patients at risk, NZNO says. 

Every year the Nursing Council audits five percent of practising nurses to provide assurance that nurses are meeting continuing competence requirements. 

Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says the Nursing Council temporarily paused Recertification Audit requirements earlier this month as part of a “strategic review of the continuing competence requirements for enrolled and registered nurses”. 

“Despite this, the Nursing Council is continuing to assess nurses’ portfolios as part of their Annual Practising Certificates. 

“This makes no sense. The only explanation is the new board appointed by the Minister of Health has asked for the pause so culturally safe competencies and references to Te Tiriti o Waitangi can be removed from the process. 

“Simeon Brown has form here after admitting he made unprecedented and sweeping changes to the Medical Council because he believed members were ‘pursuing an ideological agenda and becoming distracted from its core responsibilities’. 

“This is a further ministerial overreach from Simeon Brown who has already gutted the Council board and made four of his own appointees. This took the number of nurses on the board from seven down to four.  

“The Minister is the one pursuing an ideological agenda here. How can patients be assured nurses are competent in their work if the audit process is paused? This puts patients at risk,” she says.  

As the largest independent organisation of nurses, NZNO has written to the Nursing Council seeking a meeting to discuss the pause and the strategic review, Kerri Nuku says. 

“The Minister needs to leave nursing registration to those who understand nurses and the importance of providing culturally appropriate care. There is a growing body of evidence in Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally that culturally safe care improves health outcomes and the adherence to treatments. 

“Patients need experienced nurses deciding if nurses are competent in their work, not the Health Minister,” Kerri Nuku says. 

* Te Rūnanga o Aotearoa Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa will this week hold its annual Hui-ā-tau – the biggest hui for indigenous nurses in Aotearoa New Zealand – in Tāmaki Makaurau. Details about the programme are to follow.