Nurses now able to complete medical certificates

Media Release

21 October 2010

Nurse practitioners now able to complete medical certificates

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) is delighted nurse practitioners (NPs) are now able to complete medical certificates for sickness beneficiaries. The Ministry of Social Development recently included NPs among the health practitioners able to complete medical certificates for Sickness Benefit applications and renewals. Doctors, dentists and midwives already do so.

"Nurse practitioners are ideally suited to assess a person's capacity to work and any changes in their capacity to work because they practise in an holistic way and consider all the factors that can affect a person's ability to work," said chair of the Nurse Practitioners Advisory Committee - New Zealand (NPAC - NZ), Helen Snell.

Snell, who is NZNO's representative on NPAC - NZ, said the committee, in conjunction with other professional nursing organisations, had been lobbying for years for the removal of the many legislative barriers which prevented NPs working to the full extent of their scope of practice. They had also been supported by nursing advisers in the Ministry of Health.

"It is very encouraging that one of these legislative barriers has been removed," Snell said.

"We are experienced and highly skilled practitioners, with advanced qualifications, often including the ability to prescribe certain drugs. But these legislative barriers prevent us from working in a way which would have the maximum benefit for the health of individuals and communities. That we can now complete medical certificates for sickness beneficiaries is an example of the removal of one such barrier. We look forward to the others being dismantled sooner rather than later," Snell said.

Nurse practitioners, because of their experience and qualifications, are able to respond to a wide range of health needs across a wide range of practice settings.

"We are able to offer cost-effective, holistic and accessible health care. But if we are hobbled by unnecessary restrictions, which are largely historical, then our potential to contribute to improving the health of all New Zealanders is limited. It's great that the Ministry of Social Development has recognised our ability to meet the needs of a group of their clients," Snell said.

Snell is an NP specialising in the care and treatment of people with diabetes.

ENDS.

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