April 2017

News

Message from the Chair
NMBA news
Registration
- Renewal now open
- Health workforce dataset released
National Scheme news
- AHPRA performance report October-December 2016
- COAG Health Council meeting communiqué
Keep in touch with the NMBA

Message from the Chair

On behalf of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA), I’d like to thank all of the midwives and nurses who participated in the consultation for the revised codes of conduct.

Your input helps the NMBA to ensure that the codes are easy to understand and relevant to all aspects of contemporary practice. Most importantly, the consultation helps to ensure that the codes capture the conduct required of nurses and midwives by their peers and to protect the public.

Registration renewal is now open for nurses and midwives, and renewing online is quicker and easier than ever before.

As part of your renewal, please make sure you are familiar with the changes to registration standards, standards for practice and guidelines.

Remember that if you or a colleague is experiencing a health issue, such as stress or illness, you can speak to Nurse & Midwife Support for confidential advice on 1800 667 877.

Associate Professor Lynette Cusack RN
Chair, Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia

Associate Professor Lynette Cusack RN

NMBA news

Code of conduct consultation: Thank you

The NMBA would like to thank all of the nurses and midwives who participated in the recent consultation on the codes of conduct.

The NMBA held 16 face-to-face forums at workplaces around the country to discuss how the codes were researched and drafted. This presentation was also available on the NMBA website during the consultation.

The online consultation survey was completed by 2,937 people, providing the NMBA with valuable feedback on the draft codes.

The NMBA will now review the consultation responses in partnership with representatives from the professions, with the final codes of conduct expected to be released later in 2017.

Updates from the March 2017 NMBA meeting

Each month the NMBA meets to make decisions on the regulation of nursing and midwifery in Australia.

The March meeting was held in Hobart and attended by the Tasmanian state board Chair, Catherine Schofield. The NMBA took the opportunity to hold a discussion forum with local nurses and midwives at the University of Tasmania. Attendees learnt more about their profession’s registration standards and the role of the NMBA in keeping the public safe.

The NMBA approved its regulatory plan for 2017-20, which is focused on continuing to protect the public, support the professions to provide safe care, and respond to the changing nursing and midwifery workforces.

To see the March decisions on approved programs of study leading to registration and endorsement, please view the communiqué:

NMBA Communiqué - Meeting of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia 30 March 2017 (281 KB,PDF), Word version (103 KB,DOCX).

National and Tasmanian NMBA members met with nurses and midwives at the University of Tasmania, Hobart.

NMBA national conference 2017

In March the NMBA held its national conference, attended by members of the national, state and territories boards, Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) staff and key regulation stakeholders.

The theme of the conference was ‘Partnerships, collaboration and consistency,’ with the aim of working towards better experiences and outcomes in the regulation of nurses and midwives across Australia.

‘Nursing and midwifery are large and diverse workforces in Australia, with positions of great trust in the community,’ said NMBA executive officer Tanya Vogt.

‘The national conference allows the NMBA, AHPRA and our partners an opportunity to meet face to face and work together on how we can better serve the public and protect that trust.’

Representatives from the NMBA, AHPRA and the NSW Nursing and Midwifery Council opened the NMBA conference with a discussion on collaboration in the National Scheme.

Registration

Renewal now open

Online renewal is now open for more than 370,000 nurses and midwives who are due to renew their general or non-practising registration with the NMBA by 31 May. Last year, 98.1 per cent of nurses and midwives renewed their registration online.

Check your email inbox for renewal reminders from AHPRA explaining how to renew online.

If you don’t receive a reminder email, please check your contact details held by AHPRA are up to date. Go to ‘login’ at the top of the AHPRA or NMBA website homepages, enter your User ID and password to access the secure portal and choose to update your contact details.

Please renew by 31 May to avoid a late fee or your registration lapsing. You can find out more about this year’s renewal process on the NMBA news item. You can also watch a short video explaining how to renew your registration online.

Health workforce dataset released

AHPRA in conjunction with the National Boards is responsible for the national registration process for 14 health professions. A subset of data from this annual registration process, together with data from a workforce survey that is voluntarily completed at the time of registration, forms the National Health Workforce Dataset (NHWDS).

The NHWDS includes demographic and professional practice information for registered health professionals and is de-identified before it can be made publicly available.

The NHWDS Allied Health 2015 data has recently been released as a series of fact sheets on each allied health profession, and on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practitioners across all allied health professions, the NHWDS allied health fact sheets 2015. They were published on a new-look website, the Health Workforce Data website, by the Commonwealth Department of Health.

The fact sheets present information specific to each profession, such as information relating to scope of practice, specialties and endorsements where applicable. Aggregate data are also accessible via the Health Workforce Online Data Tool.

The data included are generated through Workforce Surveys, which are provided by AHPRA on behalf of the Department of Health to all health professionals as part of their yearly re-registration. Each survey is slightly different and is tailored to obtain data specific to that profession.

You can find the fact sheets on nursing and midwifery on the Publications page.

National Scheme news

AHPRA performance reports October-December 2016

The October to December 2016 quarterly performance reports for AHPRA and the National Boards are now available.

The reports, which are part of an ongoing drive by AHPRA and the National Boards to increase their accountability and transparency, include data specific to each state and territory.

Each report covers AHPRA and the National Boards’ main areas of activity:

managing applications for registration as a health practitioner
managing notifications about the health, performance and conduct of registered health practitioners and offences against the National Law, and
monitoring health practitioners and students with restrictions on their registration.

The reports are available on the Statistics page.

To provide feedback on the reports please email: reportingfeedback@ahpra.gov.au.

COAG Health Council meeting communiqué

The federal and state and territory health ministers met in Melbourne on 24 March 2017 at the COAG Health Council to discuss a range of national health issues.

The meeting was chaired by the Victorian Minister for Health, the Hon. Jill Hennessy. AHPRA's CEO attended the Australian Health Workforce Ministerial Council (the Council) meeting, which brings together all health ministers throughout Australia to provide oversight for the work of the National Scheme. AHPRA and National Boards provide a regular update to the Council on our work.

This meeting had a particular focus on the progress of amendments to the National Law which, among other things, will pave the way for the registration of paramedics from 2018 and a call for expressions of interest and nominations for first appointments to the National Board prior to this. Ministers also discussed further amendments to the National Law to increase the penalties for people holding out as registered practitioners.

The Council produces a communiqué from its meeting which can be accessed on AHPRA’s website.

Keep in touch with the NMBA

Visit the NMBA website for registration standards, codes, guidelines and FAQ.
Lodge an online enquiry form.
For registration enquiries, call 1300 419 495 (from within Australia) or +61 3 9275 9009 (for overseas callers).
Address mail correspondence to: Associate Professor Lynette Cusack RN, Chair, Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, GPO Box 9958, Melbourne, VIC 3001.