Revised registration standards, standards for practice and guidelines take effect from today

01 Jun 2016

A number of revised registration standards, standards for practice and guidelines from the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA), for nurses and midwives across Australia, take effect from today.

The NMBA regulates Australia’s over 370,300 enrolled nurses, registered nurses and midwives.

NMBA Chair Dr Lynette Cusack, RN said, ‘The newly effective standards and guidelines are further important steps to improve how we protect the public. We have made changes to standards and guidelines to make the obligations for nurses and midwives clearer allowing them to be more effective in how they provide care to the public. This benefits the professions, their employers and is good for public protection. It is a testament to the work of the individuals and all the key stakeholder organisations involved, who contributed to our consultations.’

The revised common registration standards¹, guidelines and supporting documents now in effect for both nurses and midwives are:

• Registration Standard: Continuing professional development (CPD), guideline, factsheet and Policy: Exemptions from continuing professional development for nurses and midwives 
• Registration Standard: Recency of practice and factsheet, and 
• Registration Standard: Professional indemnity insurance (PII) arrangements and factsheet.

These revised registration standards, guideline and supporting documents come into effect on 1 June 2016 and will replace any existing versions that are currently in place.

For nurses a further registration standard, the new RN standards for practice and revised guidelines also are in effect from today, including:

• Registration standard: Endorsement as a nurse practitioner and factsheet 
• Safety and quality guidelines for nurse practitioners 
• Guidelines: For nurses applying for endorsement as a nurse practitioner, and 
• Registered nurse standards for practice and factsheet.

All nurses and midwives will need to meet the obligations of the revised registration standards by the next registration renewal period in May 2017. They do not apply to renewals of registration in 2016.

The NMBA would also like to remind midwives that the effective date for the Registration standard: Endorsement for scheduled medicines for midwives and the Safety and quality guidelines for privately practising midwives and supporting factsheets is 1 January 2017.

For more information see the Board’s news item’s which explain what these changes mean for nurses and midwives.

The standards and guidelines were revised after a scheduled review, which included public consultation. The NMBA has published consultation reports providing a summary of the consultation processes, rationale for any changes and proposed way forward, including areas where further work is planned.

The NMBA has also published a suite of supporting documents to facilitate a better understanding of the updated standards and guidelines. Please refer to NMBA’s Registration Standards page and Professional Codes & Guidelines page for additional information and resources.

For more information

• For registration enquiries: 1300 419 495 (within Australia) +61 3 9275 9009 (overseas callers) 
• For media enquiries: (03) 8708 9200

¹Registration standards define the requirements that applicants and registrants in the regulated professions need to meet to be registered.