The role of the Nursing Council is to protect the public by setting standards for nursing in New Zealand.
These standards are applied to:
- all education programmes in New Zealand
- nurses working in New Zealand
- overseas educated nurses who wish to work in New Zealand.
Any person who wishes to nurse in New Zealand must first meet these standards in order to become a nurse and then continue to maintain requirements to demonstrate they are competent and fit to practise nursing.
The Nursing Council is an organisation established under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act. The board of the Council is made up of nine members, six of these are nurses and three are laypeople. The work of the Council is supported by the Chief Executive/Registrar and staff.
When a nurse fails to meet the required standards of nursing, the Council will investigate and depending on the nature of the issue either aid them in meeting the standards or, if necessary, follow disciplinary processes.