Recertification audits
Tātari kaute tiwhikete anō

Each year, the Nursing Council audits five percent of practising nurses to provide assurance that nurses are meeting continuing competence requirements.

The recertification audit, which is done on a random basis, was established under section 41 of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (the Act).

Audit process*

Information about the nurse practitioner audit is here.

Information about the enrolled nurse and registered nurse recertification audit is below.

The audit process is the same as when you apply for your annual practising certificate (APC) online and declare whether you have met continuing competence requirements. However, for audit you must additionally supply the Nursing Council with evidence to show that you have met continuing competence requirements for your scope of practice (see below).

A Nursing Council auditor (a nurse trained and skilled in assessment) will review your evidence and determine whether it shows that you have met the requirements. If you do not meet audit requirements, you may be requested to provide additional evidence.

Professional development and recognition programmes (PDRPs) have been developed by employers to recognise and support individual nurses to meet continuing competence requirements. The Nursing Council approves PDRPs as recertification programmes under section 41 of the Act.

Nurses who demonstrate continuing competence by successfully having a portfolio assessed via PDRP are exempt from a recertification audit. To see whether this applies to you, please see Selection, extension and exemptions below.

Audit evidence to submit and forms to use

If you are selected for recertification audit, alongside applying online to renew your APC as usual, please supply the following evidence.

Continuing competence requirements for enrolled and registered nurses

Evidence for recertification audit
Practice hours

A minimum of 450 hours (60 full-time working days) during the previous three years (36 months)

Your declaration that you have met the practice hours minimum.
Professional development

A minimum of 60 hours professional development (PD) during the previous three years (36 months)

These hours must be relevant to your scope of practice

Your summary showing that you have met the minimum of 60 hours PD relevant to your scope of practice i.e. the PD courses you have completed during the last three years, with:

  • date or period of the activity
  • name of the activity
  • hours that you attended
  • identify which pou the professional development is linked to.

You may count your New Zealand nursing qualification education as PD, if it took place during the previous three years.

Your declaration that your PD hours are true and accurate.
Competence against your scope of practice

The requirement for competence against the scope of practice is evidence of safety to practise

Safety to practise is demonstrated when you meet ALL the requirements described in the standards of competence for your scope of practice

Your example/s from everyday practice to demonstrate how you meet the standards of competence for your scope of practice. Note that you can provide evidence against each pou. You do not need to provide evidence against each descriptor (the descriptors are a guide to understanding each pou).

Declaration

Your declaration that your evidence is an accurate declaration and has not been generated by artificial intelligence (AI).

Verification declaration

A declaration by a senior nurse (or employer, if no senior nurse is in your employment setting) that the evidence you have provided for continuing competence audit reflects how you practise.

Use the correct form to send your evidence to the Council. The form includes space for all evidence requirements. You can fill it out electronically or by hand.

You may use alternative forms/templates if they include the continuing competence requirements (including the standards of competence) and will enable you to meet the evidence requirements outlined in the table above.

You can also track your professional development as it occurs, using the Council’s:

 

If you have questions, are having difficulties, or some of your evidence is missing or incorrect, please email us using [email protected].

You may use evidence from your nursing practice overseas for recertification audit. However, the evidence must:

  • be acceptable (see above), and
  • demonstrate, or contribute to demonstrating, that you meet the Nursing Council’s continuing competence requirements, and
  • be verified as accurate by a senior nurse or employer from your overseas practice.

See Returning to practice for more information.

Competence audits require authentic personal reflection.

As artificial intelligence (AI) tools become increasingly accessible it is tempting to use AI-generated evidence for your recertification audit. However, you must use actual examples from your nursing practice to demonstrate your competence for your scope of practise – without relying on AI. Below are the reasons why.

Using AI-generated evidence:

  • may fail to address the complexities of your nursing practice
  • will undermine the credibility of your evidence and will not reflect well your professional work or your professionalism, and
  • may lead to professional misrepresentation – if you do not disclose that you have use AI to generate your evidence of competence.

You will be asked to declare that your evidence relates to your own nursing practice, is true, correct and authentic, and has not been generated using AI.

Instead of using AI, check in with your nursing peers, mentors or senior nurses. If you need help to reflect on your practice, please reach out for support. Self-reflection provides the best insights that AI cannot replace.

Please submit your evidence documents using MyNC (in your ‘MyNC Details’ home page). Note that MyNC does not save evidence, so only upload it when you are ready to submit all your evidence for assessment.

  1. Click the blue ‘Upload Audit Documents’ button to take you to the upload evidence section of MyNC.
  2. Click the blue ‘Select’ buttons to select your files to upload.
    • If your evidence is all in one document, click ‘Select’ beside ‘Practice Hours’ and choose the file you want to upload.
    • If your evidence is in separate documents, click ‘Select’ beside ‘Practice Hours’, ‘Professional Development’, and ‘Competence Assessment’ (for your completed recertification audit/assessment form) to upload each document as appropriate.
  3. Enter the date you are submitting your evidence in the ‘Date Received’ field.
  4. Click the blue ‘Submit’ button once (if you click more than once, your evidence will be submitted more than once).

You will receive immediate confirmation from the Council that your submission has been received via:

  • your MyNC, and
  • the email address that you have provided to us.

If you experience difficulties uploading your evidence documents to MyNC, please email [email protected].

Before your APC expires you will be sent an email informing you of your selection, what evidence you need to send and how to send it. You will be given approximately six weeks to send your evidence to the Nursing Council.

Within three working days of sending your evidence, the Nursing Council will send you an email confirming that your evidence has been received.

The Nursing Council will take six to eight weeks to determine whether your evidence meets continuing competence requirements. If the Nursing Council requests additional information, you will be given approximately one month to supply the information.

Exemptions

If any of the following circumstances apply to you, please email us about this using [email protected].

  • Your name has been added to the Nursing Council’s public register during the previous 12 months (new graduates and internationally qualified nurses).
  • You have been audited during the previous three years.
  • You are enrolled in a Nursing Council-approved professional development and recognition programme (PDRP).
  • You are not currently enrolled in a Nursing Council-approved PDRP but you were previously, and you demonstrated that you met continuing competence requirements during the previous three years through your PDRP portfolio.
  • You have conditions in your scope of practice because you have previously not met continuing competence requirements.
  • You have completed an approved competence assessment programme (CAP) during the previous 12 months.
  • You are undergoing an investigation for health, professional conduct or competence reasons.
  • You do not want to apply for an APC at the time you are selected for recertification audit. However, if you apply for a New Zealand practising certificate later, you will be required to supply acceptable evidence for audit at that time, to show that you meet the minimum continuing competence requirements for your scope of practice.
  • You are a nurse practitioner – see here for your audit requirements.

Extensions

If any of the following circumstances apply to you, please email us about this using [email protected].

  • You are unable to meet audit timeframes or supply all of the evidence within the timeframe.
  • You are going overseas, or you are practising overseas.

What if I don’t agree with the Nursing Council’s audit decision?

If you don’t agree with the outcome of your recertification audit, email [email protected] to request further consideration of the evidence that you supplied. You will be offered the opportunity to make a written and/or oral submission to the Nursing Council.

If you were selected for audit and/or had conditions applied to your scope of practice prior to 1 April 2025, please contact Jackie Joseph on (04) 802 1321 or [email protected]