Ms Wendy Mackay1, Ms Anne Wallace1
1Office of the Chief Nurse and Midwife, Department of Health, Hobart, Australia
Abstract:
The Tasmanian Office of the Chief Nurse and Midwife provides support for Tasmanian nurses and midwives to re-entry the nursing workforce. These nurses and midwives are a valued part of the workforce and by providing this support for them to complete a re-entry program, it offers an opportunity for experienced nurses and midwives to return to the nursing profession after a lapse in their practice.
Recently, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia has provided a pathway for a person to undertake supervised practice to meet recency of practice requirements and regain full registration, however there are limited avenues to access the supervised practice pathway nationally. An innovative mechanism was needed in Tasmania to enable this to occur.
The Office of the Chief Nurse and Midwife developed a new employment model and collaborated with the Tasmanian Health Service to identify a new process to enable the NMBA supervised practice pathway to occur.
In 2019, the model was finalised and is available for Tasmanian nurses and midwives who are approved by the NMBA to participate in this pathway.
There is also a re-entry to practice pathway via a formal program with a university which has been in place for several years.
This presentation provides information on the preparatory work and stakeholder engagement undertaken to offer the Re-entry to Practice Supervised Pathway using an employed model framework.
Biography:
Anne has worked as a nurse for 37 years, in Hobart, Launceston, Sydney and London. Her main areas of experience are critical care, nursing education and policy. Anne currently works in the Office of the Chief Nurse and Midwife as the Assistant Director of Nursing for Policy and Projects.
Anne is motivated by the diversity of work in nursing and is looking forward to the celebration events throughout 2020, the International year of the nurse and midwife.
When not at work, she enjoys time bushwalking with her with her partner and exercising their border collies.