Close
Welcome to the latest edition of the Nursing and Midwifery Board newsletter.
From Sunday 7 July to Sunday 14 July, we celebrate NAIDOC week. This year’s theme is ‘Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud’, a nod to the vitality and endurance of culture and connection with Country and community. NAIDOC week provides an opportunity to learn about the history, culture and achievements of the world’s oldest continuing culture.
I would also like to thank all retiring nurses and midwives leaving the Register. This will be the last newsletter you receive on behalf of the NMBA. We wish you luck and every success with your future endeavours.
Best wishes,
Adjunct Professor Veronica Casey
Chair, Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia
In April, state and territory board members paid their respects at Anzac Day events across the country.
Quarterly reports about the nursing and midwifery workforce are published on the Board’s website.
A new piece of legislation allowing nurse practitioners and authorised (endorsed) midwives to prescribe abortifacient medication MS-2 Step has passed in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). A Factsheet has been developed to help health practitioners in the ACT familiarise themselves with the legislation and the associated requirements regarding conscientious objection.
Each month the NMBA makes decisions on approved programs of study leading to registration and endorsement. To see the up-to-date, searchable list of approved programs, please visit the approved programs of study section on our website.
If you didn’t renew your registration before 1 July 2024 and you want to keep practising, you must make a new application for registration. In some cases, you can use the fast-track application for this process. The fast-track process is only available until 31 July 2024.
If you are planning to return to your profession after an extended period of leave, it may be beneficial to keep your general registration with the NMBA. This will make it straightforward to return to practice.
You will need to continue to meet the registration standards while you take leave by completing the minimum number of hours of continuing professional development each registration period and ensuring you meet the recency of practice requirement of 450 hours of practice over the previous five years.
Non-practising registration applies to a person who wishes to retain their protected title while retired or taking an extended period of leave. If you wish to return to practice you will be required to complete an application for general registration and show you meet the registration standards, including recency of practice. The NMBA expects non-practising registrants make it clear that they hold non-practising registration.
You can also choose to let your registration lapse during the registration renewal period or surrender your registration prior to renewal (there is no refund available).
It’s important to note as above, if you re-apply for general registration later and can’t meet the Recency of practice registration standard, you will need to meet the requirements of the NMBA re-entry to practice policy.
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) and the National Boards invite you to have your say on the draft Criminal history registration standard (the criminal history standard) and supporting documents.
In late 2023, as part of our work to improve public safety in health regulation the National Boards and Ahpra consulted widely on a range of reforms, including a series of questions about the current version of the criminal history standard.
After consideration of all feedback, we have developed a draft criminal history registration standard and new supporting materials. The major changes to the criminal history standard are:
We want to hear from you on how we have responded to feedback, the draft changes we have made to the criminal history standard, and the other material we have developed to explain how the standard is applied.
The consultation will be open until 30 July 2024. Find out more about this consultation and provide feedback on the current consultations webpage.
Over 2,000 students made their voices heard in a survey to help plan for the future nursing and midwifery workforce.
The analysis of the findings will be shared with the Board in July and inform the format of the new student register, provide a greater understanding about students’ current studies and clinical placement experiences, inform future work plans and more.
The recent series of amendments to the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law are now complete, with a final suite of changes being introduced from 1 July.
A key update for practitioners is that you can now nominate an alternative name to go on the register, alongside your legal name.
Some health practitioners may practise under an alternative name, such as a traditional name or an anglicised or shortened name.
Having both your legal name and your alternative name appear on public register will make it easier for the public to search the register and make informed decisions about their care.
You can find out more information about alternative names and how to nominate on the Ahpra website.
allowing National Boards and Ahpra to issue interim prohibition orders to unregistered persons in certain circumstances where the person poses a serious risk to others
establishing the process regarding renewal of a practitioner’s registration after a period of suspension
empowering the National Boards to include previously excluded information in the National Register if there is a reasonable belief the circumstances have changed
enabling the Ministerial Council to delegate its power to approve registration standards to an appropriate entity.
More information about the changes, as well as future areas of focus and ways to provide feedback can be found on the Ahpra website.
The emergence of services designed solely to provide customers with access to a predetermined medicine raises concerns that some practitioners may be putting self-interest ahead of patient welfare.
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, the Medical Board of Australia, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia and the Pharmacy Board of Australia have released a joint statement reminding practitioners of their long-established responsibilities when prescribing and dispensing medicines. The Boards are focused on concerns that practitioners are capitalising on rising demand for the prescription and use of medicinal cannabis, bulk produced compounded medicines, or soon to be banned compounded semaglutide and related products. We remind practitioners of their duty of care when providing prescriptions of any kind, whether it be in-person or via telehealth.
Over 25% of Australians have had at least one telehealth consultation for their own health in the last 12 months.
Ahpra and the National Boards have published virtual care information for health practitioners, the public and employers about accessing and providing safe and effective virtual care.
Practitioners and consumers are increasingly choosing virtual care alternatives as we continue to see growth in the adoption of technology, online prescribing and the use of health ‘apps’. What was once seen as a temporary approach to enable healthcare in a global pandemic is now widely accepted as just another way to see your practitioner.
These documents replace the previous Telehealth guidance for practitioners which was developed to address the impact of COVID-19 restrictions.
This information is not new and relies on the existing principles within the National Boards’ regulatory framework, such as Codes of Conduct and other relevant standards and guidelines. It has been developed as a helpful resource for healthcare providers and consumers to understand what good virtual care should look like.
The NMBA publishes summaries of tribunal decisions about nurses and midwives as professional learning case studies. All information in these summaries has been made publicly available by the relevant tribunal before the NMBA publishes its summary.
A tribunal has reprimanded an enrolled nurse for forging the signature of a colleague on 121 occasions and failing to administer and document an appropriate dose of a Schedule 4 medicine to a patient.
Read more
A midwife providing private midwifery and home birthing services has been reprimanded and disqualified by a tribunal from applying for registration for 10 years after she practised outside established standards and inconsistently with evidence informed care.
A tribunal has disqualified a registered nurse from applying for registration for two years after she misappropriated various medications, including Schedule 3 and 4 substances from her workplace.