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This month we celebrate and promote the roles of midwives on International Day of the Midwife and nurses on International Nurses Day.
On behalf of the NMBA, I’d like to thank each of you for the contribution you make to the health and wellbeing of your communities.
It’s time to renew your registration with the NMBA, if you haven’t done so already. Registration with the NMBA lets people in your care know that you’re qualified and competent to practise. Registration fees are used to develop evidence-based standards for the nursing and midwifery professions and to ensure public safety through regulation.
Please take the opportunity to have your say on the proposed Decision-making framework for nurses and midwives. This important tool helps to make decisions in practice on scope of practice and delegation.
The National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (the National Scheme) is consulting on a national baseline definition of cultural safety. You are invited to have your say to ensure that nurses and midwives are involved in shaping this baseline definition for the National Scheme.
The NMBA has its own definition of cultural safety, which was developed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives, as the most appropriate and helpful definition for nurses and midwives in their practice.
To have your say on the National Scheme consultation, please visit the Consultations section of the AHPRA website.
Associate Professor Lynette Cusack RN Chair, Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia
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The NMBA wants your feedback on the proposed Decision-making framework for nurses and midwives (DMF), which is a guide to decision-making relating to scope of practice and delegation.
The DMF has been developed from an evidence-based review of the current National framework for the development of decision-making tools for nursing and midwifery practice (the national framework).
Changes to the national framework in the proposed DMF include:
To have your say, please read the proposed DMF and the consultation document, and respond to the feedback questions via the online survey link on the Consultations section of the NMBA website. The consultation closes on Monday 17 June 2019.
On Sunday 5 May we celebrated the global work of midwives. The theme for 2019 is ‘Midwives: Defenders of women’s rights.’
Chair of the NMBA, Associate Professor Lynette Cusack, thanked midwives for their contribution to safe care for women.
‘Midwives play such an important role not just in providing care for women and their families but also care that is woman-centred and culturally safe,’ Associate Professor Cusack said.
‘Midwives in Australia can be so proud of the evidence-based standards of their profession and of their contribution to safe, woman-centred care which is such an important role for our families and communities.’
Associate Professor Cusack asked midwives to remember to take care of their own health, too.
‘The NMBA funds an independent health support service, Nurse & Midwife Support, which gives midwives a confidential place to have a chat and find the right referral for their health issues. It helps midwives to find support to care for themselves, so they can continue caring for women.’
Nurse & Midwife Support is an independent service which can be reached 24 hours a day on 1800 667 877.
This year the theme for International Nurses Day, celebrated annually on 12 May, is ‘Nurses: A voice to lead health for all.’
Chair of the NMBA, Associate Professor Lynette Cusack, thanked nurses across Australia for their dedication to the health of their communities.
‘Nurses are the largest health profession in Australia – we simply couldn’t provide care to all Australians without them,’ Associate Professor Cusack said.
‘Nurses are continually on the frontline of making sure people’s healthcare needs are met and today we want to say thank you on behalf of all Australians.’
Associate Professor Cusack said that it is vital that nurses take care of their own health as well as the health of others and reminded nurses that Nurse & Midwife Support is available 24/7 on 1800 667 877.
In March, the NMBA met in Hobart and provided an information forum for nurses and midwives at the University of Tasmania. The forum was well-attended, with topics including the NMBA’s professional practice framework and updates on the proposed registered nurse (RN) prescribing endorsement.
At the March meeting, the NMBA reviewed the public consultation feedback on the RN prescribing endorsement and reviewed a final draft of the endorsement in preparation for a submission to the COAG Health Council for approval. The NMBA and the Australian and New Zealand Council of Chief Nurses and Midwives Officers also held a final consultation session with key stakeholders on the endorsement.
Each month the NMBA makes decisions on approved programs of study leading to registration and endorsement. To see the up-to-date, searchable list of approved programs, please visit the Approved programs of study section of the NMBA website.
Online renewal for nurses and midwives is now open. Registration with the NMBA lets people in your care know that you’re qualified and competent to practise. Registration fees are used to develop evidence-based standards for the nursing and midwifery professions and to ensure public safety through regulation.
Each year when you renew, you are asked questions to ensure that you are meeting the registration standards of your profession, such as criminal history declarations.
You are also asked about whether you have an impairment that is likely to detrimentally affect your capacity to practise nursing and/or midwifery. This question is about whether you have a physical or mental health condition or disorder (including substance abuse or dependence), that is likely to detrimentally affect your ability to practise safely.
It is important to think carefully about this question.
Remember, health conditions which are safely managed so that they don't 'detrimentally affect' your ability to practise, such as needing prescription glasses or taking time off work for a fractured arm, don't need to be declared.
Look out for emails from AHPRA on how to renew your registration with the NMBA. You need to renew your registration by 31 May 2019 or risk your registration lapsing.
For more information, including what to do if you haven’t received a renewal email, please read the news item.
An independent expert review of the practice of spinal manipulation for infants and young children was announced by Health Ministers following COAG Health Council’s March meeting.
The review will be carried out by Safer Care Victoria. It will focus on the risk of harm and adverse events, and the current best evidence for the efficacy of spinal manipulation to treat childhood illnesses or health concerns in infants and young children.
National Boards do not define the types of treatments in which a registered health practitioner may choose to be qualified and competent to carry out in their chosen scope of practice.
Under the National Law, only registered chiropractors, medical practitioners, osteopaths and physiotherapists are permitted to manipulate the cervical spine when treating patients.
The National Law says that manipulation of the cervical spine means ‘moving the joints of the cervical spine beyond a person’s usual physiological range of motion using a high velocity, low amplitude thrust’.
AHPRA and the National Boards regulating the professions able to undertake cervical spinal manipulation support the independent review and await its outcome and recommendations with keen interest.
Read more in the COAG Health Council March Communiqué.
The National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (the National Scheme) is consulting on a national baseline definition of cultural safety.
The consultation is a partnership between the National Scheme Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Strategy Group and the National Health Leadership Forum. There are more than 40 entities represented in this consultation, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health experts, National Boards, AHPRA and Accreditation Authorities.
The NMBA invites feedback to the consultation, to ensure that nurses and midwives are involved in shaping the baseline definition for the National Scheme. The NMBA has its own definition of cultural safety, which was developed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives, as the most appropriate and helpful definition for nurses and midwives in their practice.
To view the draft national baseline definition and consultation paper and to have your say, please view the consultation page on the AHPRA website and complete the online survey before close of business Wednesday 15 May 2019.