Changing your area of practice in response to Covid-19

10 February 2022

As of Sunday 26 September 2022 the Government no longer requires nurses to follow the mandatory vaccination requirements. The Nursing Council is maintaining this page as a historical record only. Please note that an individual employer might still have vaccination requirements and is permitted to ask about your vaccination status. If you are not vaccinated we recommend that you discuss this with any potential employers.

The role of the Nursing Council is to protect the health and safety of members of the public by providing mechanisms to ensure that nurses are competent and fit to practise nursing.

One of the ways to achieve protection of the public is to set scopes of practice for nurses and nurse practitioners.

The scopes of practice for enrolled nurses, registered nurses and nurse practitioners are all enabling scopes because of the variety of clinical contexts nurse practise in.

As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic response and the staff shortages that will occur nurses may seek or be asked to change their area of practice to work in an area that is unfamiliar to them. Read more.