New practice requirements met

Enrolled nurse Robyn Hewlett was honoured at a special celebration at Dunedin Hospital for her work within the Southern District Health Board and nationally to raise the profile of enrolled nurses. About 100 enrolled nurses were celebrating completing the requirements for their new scope of practice. Photo by Peter McIntosh.

Enrolled nurses in Dunedin celebrated meeting new practice requirements last week, but there is concern at the lack of a national strategy for employing more nurses.

More than 100 enrolled nurses employed by the Southern District Health Board in Otago, who have made the transition to the new and broader scope of practice, were honoured at a special afternoon tea on Friday.

One of them, Robyn Hewlett, was singled out for the work she had done on the new scope of practice in her role as the chairwoman of the enrolled nurse section of New Zealand Nurses Organisation.

She told the audience nurses had been fighting to get training for enrolled nurses re-introduced since 1999.

Now nine polytechnics throughout the country were offering training to about 200 new nurses, but the "next fight" would be getting a strategy for the employment of them.

The first nurses from these courses will graduate later this year.

Discussions had already begun with Workforce New Zealand about this, but Ms Hewlett said there were concerns that some jobs which should be done by enrolled nurses would be offered to people without qualifications because they were cheaper.

The new qualification for enrolled nurses is an 18-month diploma, at level 5 on the New Zealand Qualifications Authority framework.

Ms Hewlett said Christchurch was one area where some "good work" was happening around the use of community teams involving registered nurses and enrolled nurses.

At Friday's event board acting deputy chief nursing and midwifery officer Heather Casey, referring to the work the enrolled nurses had prepared to meet the transition requirements, said some of the material showing the depth of their practice "brought tears to people's eyes".

She paid tribute to the nurses reliability and stability and their dedication to their patients.

They got on with the job and did things without making a fuss.

- elspeth.mclean@odt.co.nz