Nurses who move into self-employment in non-clinical roles will often ask if they need to maintain an Annual Practicing Certificate (APC) from the Nursing Council of New Zealand.
In this case, the key is to work out if you are still influencing or affecting the nursing workforce, nursing care and/ or patient outcomes. If the answer is yes to any of those then yes, you should maintain an APC, but possibly not one for RNs in clinical practice, and yes there are other options for RN…read on.
All practising nurses require an APC and must sign an annual declaration for:
- Practice Hours: 60 days (450 hours) in last 3 years
- Professional Development hours: 60 hours in last 3 years
- Competence Assessments x2
Important note:
- Nurses undertaking any clinical practice, delivering clinical care must complete the clinical competencies.
- If you are non-clinical check that you are using the right competencies (see below).
Registered nurses (RN) in:
- Management
- Education
- Policy
- Research
RNs who are not practising in direct patient care are exempt from the competencies that apply to clinical practice in Domain 2 (management of nursing care) and Domain 3 (interpersonal relationships).
There are specific competencies in these domains for RNs who work in management, education, policy or research. RNs who are assessed against these specific competencies are required to demonstrate how these competencies contribute to their practice.
RNs who practise in direct client care and management, education, policy or research must meet all relevant competencies.
If you are an RN involved in management, education, policy or research, please see the appropriate assessment form for your scope of practice in the downloads on the Nursing Council website.
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