STRATEGIC PLAN January 2017
Welcome to the Nursing Council s 2017 2022. This strategic plan sets out what we intend to achieve over the next five years. It outlines the priorities, goals and actions that we are committed to working towards to ensure we deliver on our vision and our mission. It provides a base for us to assess our performance and achievements. We also provide information about the values and principles guiding our work and the context in which we have developed this plan. More detailed information about our strategic and operational activities and achievements can be found in our Annual Report which is on our website: www.nursingcouncil.org.nz/publications/reports CONTENTS Our vision, mission and statutory purpose 3 Our four key strategic priorities 4 Strategic priorities, goals and actions 5 Developing our strategic direction 7 Our values and principles 8
Our vision Leadership in health professional regulation Our mission Setting and maintaining nursing standards to protect public safety We are governed by the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003. The Act provides a framework for the regulation of all health practitioners to protect the public where there is a risk of harm from professional practice. It establishes the Nursing Council as the authority responsible for the regulation of nurses. It sets out our role and functions. Our statutory purpose is to protect the health and safety of the public by ensuring that nurses are competent and fit to practise. 3
Our four key strategic priorities PRIORITY 1 To ensure effective regulatory practice and consistent standards for all nurses registered in New Zealand. PRIORITY 2 To improve accountability to the public and stakeholders PRIORITY 3 PRIORITY 4 To enhance national, global and interdisciplinary collaboration To be an effective future focused organisation 4
To ensure effective regulatory practice and consistent standards for all nurses registered in New Zealand To improve accountability to the public and stakeholders GOALS To protect the public by strengthening and improving our registration processes To continue to improve the quality of nursing education to ensure that graduates are well prepared for the future To continue to evaluate the effectiveness of our Fitness to Practise functions GOALS To continuously improve our engagement with the public and our stakeholders To improve the Council s relationship and partnership with Māori To increase transparency of decision-making at a governance level to increase public confidence in the Council ACTIONS We will review the way we assess the applications of internationally qualified nurses to meet standards We will review the way we assess the competence of internationally qualified nurses to ensure consistency with New Zealand registration standards We will review the registered nurse scope of practice to ensure future nurses are well prepared to meet the future health needs in New Zealand in any setting We will review the way we accredit and monitor education institutions and programmes that lead to registration as an Enrolled Nurse, Registered Nurse, Nurse Practitioner and as a registered nurse prescriber We will use data to inform our decision-making, performance monitoring and direction setting We will reconsider our continuing competence requirements to ensure nurses keep up to date and continue their life-long learning We will continue to evaluate the effectiveness of our Fitness to Practise functions ACTIONS We will review and update our stakeholder engagement and communication plan We will develop and implement our engagement strategy to give effect to the Council s relationship and partnership with Māori We will identify actions we can take to move towards greater transparency of the Council s business We will review all our communications to ensure we use plain English 5
To enhance national, global and interdisciplinary collaboration To be an effective future-focused organisation GOALS To develop a programme of collaborative work with other New Zealand regulators and organisations to identify and act on risks to the public To work with other international nursing regulators to promote international best practice in nursing regulation GOALS To ensure regulatory functions are supported by safe, stable and effective information technology systems To ensure we have the right resources and capacity to proactively deliver our regulatory functions and strategic goals and programmes ACTIONS We will identify key New Zealand health regulatory partners We will work to enable recognition of registrants across partner countries We will remain engaged and contribute at an international level to keep abreast of current and future trends and best practice ACTIONS We will invest in technology and electronic mediums to enhance our communication with stakeholders and transform the way we work We will develop our analytic and intelligence capacity to help us identify trends and indicators to allow us to be proactive in our work We will regularly review our structures and processes to ensure we are equipped to best meet stakeholder needs. 6
Developing our strategic direction Our strategic direction and plan is based on our analysis of the current and future healthcare environment and its impact on nursing practice. It is also evolutionary and flows out of what we have achieved over the past three years. We are responsive to the changing healthcare environment The context of nursing practice is changing with new technologies and increasing demand for more flexible models of health care that place the health consumer at the centre of care. The New Zealand population is ageing and becoming more ethnically diverse. Demand is growing for community and primary care services for those living with long-term chronic conditions or age related ailments. Nurses are taking on expanded roles in collaborative health care teams and are integrally involved in initiatives to improve both access to care and the quality of care. Globally, workforce mobility is increasing and approximately 45% of the new nurses we register now are internationally qualified. Changes in the way nurses practise will be facilitated by changes in technology and the growth of information and evidence that enables data to be accessed and shared across more diverse settings. We continue to prioritise public safety in everything we do Our role, as the regulator, is to facilitate these changes in nursing practice to better meet public need, while ensuring nurses provide safe and competent care. The safety of the public remains at the centre of what we do. We will be a flexible and collaborative organisation. We must continue to maintain the support of the public, profession and other key stakeholders to achieve our regulatory mission. We need to ensure our educational preparation for nurses in New Zealand continues to be of a high standard. Our registration processes must be aligned with international standards and be flexible and appropriate to protect the public in a changing world. We will ensure our regulatory standards and systems are based on data analysis, research evidence and are in line with international trends. We will invest in better information technology to ensure our staff have the capacity to support future work. We will invest in staff capacity and analytics to ensure our policies are intelligent and relevant. We will work collaboratively with other regulators, government agencies, professional bodies, employers and the public both here in New Zealand and internationally to share information, identify risk and develop strategies to protect the public. We build on our recent achievements This plan ensures continuity in our work. We intend to build on what we have achieved over the past three years. Our key achievements are set out to provide background for our goals going forward. We worked to improve access to health care for all New Zealanders by: introducing prescribing for common conditions by registered nurses to make it easier for people to get the medicines they need broadening the prescribing powers of nurse practitioners and the scope of what they are allowed to do making improvements to educational standards and preparation. We took measures to protect the public by: requiring all nurses to undertake professional development on a new Code of Conduct to ensure wide understanding of professional behaviour implementing a new process for nurses who are reported to the Council for competence concerns strengthening the committees that monitor nurses with health concerns. We continued to improve and widen our communication with nurses, employers and the public through: improvements to our website Increasing the frequency of digital communications and newsletters. We strengthened our relationships with the Ministry of Health and other stakeholders. We worked collaboratively: developing a business partnership with nine other health practitioner regulatory boards and co-locating with them participating in collaborative projects with international nursing regulatory bodies and shared innovations. We improved our systems and processes by: establishing an online application process for registration applications and for renewal of annual practising certificates advancing our analysis of our nursing workforce data to produce useful information for ourselves and other stakeholders. 7
Our values and principles Our values and principles come from the expectations we have of nurses and of ourselves in our regulatory practice We are accountable We act with integrity, are fair and treat people with respect We are effective and efficient We always focus on the health and safety of the public We strive to pro-actively identify and minimise causes of risk of harm, rather than simply responding when a person has been harmed We take responsibility for our actions and demonstrate strong governance. We will be open and transparent We treat people with respect and honesty and strive to ensure our processes are fair and open We invite engagement and input before we make decisions We explain and give reasons for our decisions to assist people to understand them and acknowledge errors We strive to ensure that our regulatory actions are efficient, effective, consistent and proportionate We direct our resources solely to those functions and activities that support our purpose of protecting public safety 8
We are collaborative We shape our standards to encourage nurses to improve health equity We lead, learn and improve We work constructively with all our stakeholders We communicate our work clearly and show people that we have listened to their feedback We explore opportunities to work with others to get the maximum impact for the resources we use We ensure that new nurses on the register have a good understanding of the New Zealand health care context and the impact that the social and political environment has on people s wellbeing We are informed by evidence that stakeholders can contribute to and scrutinise We measure what we do to understand how it impacts on public safety 9