National Registration – What does it All Mean??!
As of 1st July 2010, the old system of state and territory based Nursing Registration has been abolished.
The Council of Australian Governments has now implemented a single national registration and accreditation system for health professionals in Australia. This system is known as the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS) for Health Professionals.
National registration will mean that nurses and midwives will only need to hold one licence to practise in order to work as a nurse or midwife in any State or Territory of Australia.
Governing Bodies
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia
The newly established National Nursing and Midwifery Board are responsible for:
- Registering nursing and midwifery practitioners and students
- Developing standards, codes and guidelines for the nursing and midwifery profession
- Handling notifications, complaints, investigations and disciplinary hearings
- Assessing overseas trained practitioners who wish to practise in Australia
- Approving accreditation standards and accredited courses of study.
State and Territory Boards
State and Territory Boards have also been set up to support the National Board in the new registration and accreditation system. Roles are categorised as follows:
- The National Board is responsible for setting policies and professional standards
- The State and Territory Boards will make individual notification and registration decisions affecting individual nurses and midwives.
What does this mean for Current Nurses?
Registration Transition
According to information from the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, if you were registered with a State or Territory registration board as at 30 June 2010 you will have automatically transitioned to the new national registration and accreditation scheme.
This registration is now recognised in all the States and Territories of Australia that have enacted the National Law.
Depending on which state you live in, your registration may expire in less that 12mths to bring you in line with a new registration cycle. See this page for information specific to your State or Territory.
New obligations for Nurses and Midwives
The Nursing Fact Sheet outlines new obligations under the national scheme. A brief summary of some of the main obligations are as follows:
Continuing professional development (CPD)
All nurses and midwives who are engaged in any form of nursing or midwifery practice will be required to complete continuing professional development (CPD) that is relevant to their context of practice. This includes undertaking learning activities that will maintain and enhance knowledge and skills pertaining to their area of practice.
The CPD requires that Registered Nurses are required to participate in at least 20 hours of CPD per year.
Recency of practice
Nurses and Midwives must have undertaken sufficient practice within the preceding five years to demonstrate competence in their profession. Practice is defined as any role, whether remunerated or not, in which the individual uses their skill and knowledge as a nurse or midwife.
Professional Indemnity Insurance
Registered nurses and midwives must not practice their professions unless they are covered in the conduct of their practice by appropriate professional indemnity insurance arrangements.
Criminal history
The Board has new powers to check the criminal history of registered nurses and midwives before deciding on an application for renewal of registration, or at any time during the registration period.
What’s Happened to the ANMC?
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council (ANMC) was formerly responsible for developing and maintaining Nursing position statements, guidelines and competency standards in Australia.
With the introduction of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, the role of the ANMC has now changed, and the ANMC has now been appointed as an independent accreditation body for Nursing and Midwifery.
According to the ANMC, they are currently restructuring their organisation following this new appointment under the NRAS scheme, and it’s main function will be in setting standards for accreditation, and in assessing and accrediting Nursing and Midwifery courses and providers.
The ANMC is an authorised assessor for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, meaning they will also be responsible for undertaking skills assessments for international nurses and midwives who are seeking to migrate to Australia.
How do I find more info?
Background info and links can be found on the Royal College of Nursing website.
There is a fair amount of information available on the Nursing and Midwifery Board website, including:
- Registration Standards
- Registration Transition
- Registration Renewal
- FAQ and Fact Sheets
- Nurse Fees, Midwife Fees
- Codes & Guidelines
National Registration – What do you guys think? Good thing? Bad thing? I guess time will tell…..
[...] information can be found on the National Registration for Nurses [...]
Very Informative.Thanks for the post.
Hi
I am an endorsed enrolled nurse where i work there is confusion about the new regulations on registering.
Do we have to have 20 hours of continuing educatcion to register every year? When we register every year do we have to submit evidence to the fact that we have Actually done 20hrs of education? If we work regularly in a ward basis does this also go towards our point system, the CPR, the Medication assessment every year and any inservice we go to etc….
Many staff where i work complain that they pay enough in registration and Hecs to be paying out for courses as well. So if we do private studies does that also go towards our 20 hours? Can anyone explain just how this work as it appears no one seems to be able to explain this simply.
Cheers
Ros
I think it’s ridiculous to burden nurses with an arbitrary amount of study on top of working in increasingly difficult conditions. What will happen if the prof dev is not done? Surely in a nursing shortage we should be facilitating nurses registration rather than putting road blocks in the way? I am surprised the ANF has let this go through.
Hi there,
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Hope that’s okay! Would love it if you could check out our blog too
Regards the 20 hrs of education to get the points for nurses to register. Surely it would have been a good idea to gradually introduce this policy, rather than hit everyone with the full amount of hours in the first year. Nurses are so confused not to mention how the heck these hours are fesiable.Are employers aware of their role in providing education and keeping tally of who attended this or that, I think not. Then you have the issue when re-registration is due, what happens to those who want to remain registered but due to long term illness and inability to make up the 20 hrs cannot re-register. We have a shortage of nurses now, this policy will make it ten times worse, with so many nurses unable to register. I believe whole heartedly in education and self developement, but this to me has not been thought out thoroughly enough. Trouble ahaead.
I think it’s a bad thing. More nurses are leaving the industry due to these new regulations and that there wasn’t a grace period to get these hours. Horrible!
I think that bringing all of Australia’s nurses under one national body is a positive thing. However, although we are all registered with the same board and all practice under the same legislation, we are still not on a level playing field where wages are concerned.
On the subject of the 20 hours of CPD…do all of you who are complaining about it really think that 1 hour of professional development every fortnight is really that hard to achieve?? You probably spend more time sipping lattes than that! If you read the guidelines, the 20 hours incorporates attending in-services, conferences, reading relevant journals etc and not just formalised study. You can easily get 3-4 of those hours just by completing your facility’s mandatory training.
“Continuing professional development is the means by which members of the profession maintain, improve and broaden their knowledge, expertise and competence, and develop the personal and professional qualities required throughout their professional lives.” The minimum requirement here is MAINTAIN. If you think that you remain competent without keeping yourself updated, then you are kidding yourself and placing your patients at risk.
Hi…..I am desperately willing to work in Australia.Could you please send me the details how could I apply for registered nurse in Australia.I am a BSc nurse from India.
[...] National Registration for Nurses | Nurse In Australia [...]
I am a Fiji registered nurse graduated with diploma in Nursing,can I apply registration as an enrolled Nurse in Australia.
Hi, I am Helen from India.I am a B.Sc nurse.I wanted to work in Australia.Kindly help me how to apply for it.
hi, i’m a registered nurse from the philippines.I took up BSN and currently working in one of the hospitals here in the philippines. i just want to know how can i work in Australia as a Registered Nurse? Thank you.
Can anyone comment on job opportunities in Australia.
I am a registered nurse with 3 years of experience in oncology.
I am coming to Australia next month to do Bridging program.
Kindly advise.
I am looking for a Kathleen Warner who trained at St Vincents Toowoomba and did Midwifrey at the Mater at Crows Nest NSW. We are celebrating 50 years since since we completed it and wold love to catch up with her or make some contact with the other girls. Anne
hi
i am deepti ,registered nurse working in india,i am leaving to australia in october as i have got a dependent visa and i have given a telephonic interview in st vincent hospital ,sydney where they told me to do australian registration ,now i have applied to aphra for nursing and midwifery registration ,is there any other course which needs to be done to work in sydney
It’s crazy that nurses are facing some of the same burdens here in the US.
Great article, I just given this onto a co-worker who was doing a little research on that. And he in fact purchased me lunch because I discovered it for him
Great article, I just given this onto a co-worker who was doing a little research on that. And he in fact purchased me lunch because I discovered it for him
hey,am julia and am a RN nurse in africa and currently doing my Bscn.i just wanted to know what i would need to work in Australia.
Hey guys! Is it possible to lodge my application for registration as a nurse even if i’m still in my mother country?
I came from a country in the south pacific where we learn in english and our second major language is english.It is so unfare that we have to keep on sitting for the english test.Australians jus try your self to sit for this hard test…then you will realise..
Hey guys! Is it possible to lodge my application for registration as a nurse even if i’m still in my mother country?
I came from a country in the south pacific where we learn in english and our second major language is english.It is so unfare that we have to keep on sitting for the english test.Australians jus try your self to sit for this hard test…then you will realis
Everything is very open with a clear description of the issues.
It was really informative. Your website is very helpful.
Thanks for sharing!
Need to register in Australia and find a job to work as a nurse . How do i go about it