Re-entry applicants must walk an unfair path

Published: 19 October 2011

The QNU has formally lodged its concern that nurses and midwives wishing to apply for re-entry to practice face different and unfair standards to other
professional health practitioners.

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) recently sought consultation from interested parties regarding its draft policy on re-entry to practice.

The QNU provided a submission detailing our concerns over the proposed policy and recommending proper amendments.

The NMBA’s draft policy proposes that a nurse or midwife who has not practised for between five and ten years can only become registered again if they complete a re-entry course that is accredited by the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council and approved by the NMBA.

The draft policy further proposes that if applicants held a sole qualification in mental health, paediatrics or disability, the approved re-entry course must be specific to the area of mental health, paediatric or disability nursing.

The QNU considers that the draft policy is not fair and equitable when compared to the other nine professions which are currently regulated under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act 2009 (the National Law).

These professions have access to a range of options when applying for re-entry, including a professional development program and supervised practice and competency assessment, with the relevant boards for those professions having discretion as to how the practitioner gains re-entry to practice.

The NMBA is the only National Board to require applicants for re-entry to complete an accredited and approved course.

Given that the draft policy proposes to treat nurses and midwives differently to other regulated health professions, the QNU considers that it fails to comply with the guiding principles of the National Law.

Subsection 3(3)(a) of the National Law states that the national registration and accreditation scheme "is to operate in a transparent, accountable, efficient, effective and fair way" (emphasis added).

For this reason, the QNU has submitted that the NMBA’s draft policy should be consistent with the other nine professions by incorporating a range of potential re-entry to practice options.

Subsection 38(1)(e) of the National Law stipulates that the NMBA must develop standards in relation to the "nature, extent, period and recency of any previous practice".

The NMBA’s draft policy appears to be inconsistent with this section by only considering the recency element and ignoring the other elements regarding the nature, extent and period of any previous practice.

The QNU believes this is further evidence that the NMBA’s draft re-entry to practice policy should be amended to make provision for a range of re-entry options, applied at the discretion of the NMBA, depending on the individual’s circumstances.

Similarly, the QNU believes the NMBA’s proposal that nurses and midwives who have not practised for more than ten years must successfully complete their basic nursing qualification again before re-entry fails to comply with the guidelines and provisions of the National Law.

The QNU hopes that the NMBA will re-consider its position on the basis of our submission, and take measures to ensure that the final policy is consistent with the National Law by being fair and equitable when compared to the other regulated health professions.

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