Nurse Practitioners in New Zealand

Nurse Practitioner Employment and Development Working Party

Terms of Reference

Background

The Nurse Practitioner Advisory Committee of New Zealand (NPAC-NZ) submitted a proposal to the Minister of Health (The Minister) to establish a Working Party to address sustainable employment and development opportunities for Nurse Practitioners. The Minister agreed to support the establishment of the Nurse Practitioner Employment and Development Working Party (the Working Party) for these purposes.

Nurse practitioners are registered nurses who work at an advanced level of practice. They are qualified to make independent and/or collaborative decisions in partnership with individuals, families/whānau, or communities. They can act as the regular health care provider for their client group, and their practice emphasises health promotion and maintenance, and disease prevention as core activities.

It is internationally recognised that Nurse Practitioners have a key role in addressing health priorities. Nurse Practitioners will form an increasing proportion of the future health workforce in New Zealand, and will be essential to achieving the Government’s health goals; particularly those identified in the Primary Health Care Strategy. These include:

• reducing health disparities
• improving access to physical health, mental health and disability services
• using population health approaches to improve, maintain and restore people’s health.

Guiding Principles

In achieving the objectives identified below, the Working Party will be guided by the following principles:

• A focus on health outcomes and service delivery
• A focus on population health, including the determinants of health
• A focus on access to health care for all consumers.

Objectives

The objectives of the Working Party are to:

• identify and create incentives for employment opportunities for nurse practitioners
• explore and recommend training schemes for nurse practitioner development
• identify and explore funding mechanisms for nurse practitioner development
• identify nurse practitioner pathways that are aligned to DHB and primary health care needs
• examine opportunities to develop partnerships with other agencies and explore opportunities for joint funding.

Outputs

The Working Party will:

By March 2006, provide a report to the Ministry of Health, which includes a budget and proposals for expenditure for employment opportunities of Nurse Practitioners. The release of $300 000 to fund these opportunities will be contingent on the Ministry of Health’s approval of the budget and proposals.

By June 2006 provide an interim report to the Ministry of Health which:

• identifies structured pathways for Nurse Practitioner development
• identifies pathways that ensure Nurse Practitioner development is closely aligned to the District Health Board’s population health and disability service needs.
• explores funding schemes and recommends a funding model for Nurse Practitioners that will address barriers to Nurse Practitioner utilisation across primary, secondary and tertiary health care.

By December 2006, provide the final report to the Ministry of Health on the Working Party’s findings and conclusions.

Functional Relationships

The Working Party will consult widely using sub groups or other mechanisms to assist with the development and refinement of certain aspects of the work. They will have consultative and/or functional relationships with:

Professional Bodies

• Nursing Council of New Zealand (NCNZ)
• The Nurse Practitioners Advisory Committee of New Zealand (NPAC-NZ)
• College of Nurses Aotearoa (NZ) Inc
• New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO)
• National Nursing Organisations (NNO)
• Nurse Executives of New Zealand Inc (NENZ)
• Nurse Educators in the Tertiary Sector (NETS)
• Council of Medical Colleges

Representative Organisations

• National NGO Forum
• Consumer forums
• PHO Community Council
• National Council of Women
• Mental Health Organisations
• Pacific Organisations
• Māori Organisations

Government Agencies and Advisory Groups

• Ministry of Health
  
  
  • Clinical Training Agency (CTA)
  • Mental Health Directorate
  • Clinical Services Directorate – including the Primary Health Care Team
    
    
    • Māori Health Directorate
    • Sector Policy Directorate – including the Health Workforce Advisory Committee (HWAC)
    • Ministry of Health Taskforce on the Implementation of the Primary Health Care Strategy and PHO Development (The Taskforce).
• ACC
• Ministry of Social Development
• Ministry of Justice
• Te Puni Kokiri
• Department of Labour
  
  
  • Occupational Safety and Health
• Child, Youth and Family

District Health Boards

• DHB CEOs
• DHB Directors of Nursing
• HR Managers
• Planning and Funding Managers
• Primary Health Organisations (PHOs)

DHBNZ

• Workforce Development Group

Private Organisations

• Private Health Insurers
  
  
  • Southern Cross Healthcare
  • Tower Health & Life Ltd
  • Health Funds Association

Membership

The members of the Working Party will be recommended for appointment by the Minister of Health.

The Working Party is comprised of the following members:

Name	Job Title
Jan Bulteel-Adams	Director of Nursing, Waikato DHB
Dr Jenny Carryer	Professor of Nursing Massey University, Executive Director College of Nurses
Cathy Cooney	Chief Executive, Lakes DHB
Bernadette Forde	Nurse Practitioner (Mental Health) Otago DHB
Dr Frances Hughes	Managing Director ProFocs Ltd, Professor of Nursing Auckland University
Dr Susan Jacobs	Dean, Faculty of Health and Sport Science, Eastern Institute of Technology; Nurse Education in the Tertiary Sector (NETS) representative
Kim Tito (Chair)	GM Service Development and Funding and Maori Health, Northland DHB
Susanne Trim	Professional Nursing Adviser, NZ Nurses Organisation; member of Nurse Practitioner Advisory Committee
Tony Gibling (ex Officio)	Manager, Clinical Training Agency
Mark Jones (ex Officio)	Chief Adviser Nursing, Ministry of Health

Chair of the Working Party

Members of the Working Party will, at the first meeting decide the Chairperson.

Member Obligations

Membership of the Working Party will be governed by the following principles:

• Attendance of the Chairperson (or appropriate delegate) to Working Party meetings and teleconferences is mandatory.
• Any member of the Working Party may at any time resign by notifying the Chairperson in writing.
• The Chairperson may from time to time alter or reconstitute the Working Party as appropriate to meet the requirements of these Terms of Reference.
• There is an expectation that members will make every effort to attend all meetings/teleconferences and devote sufficient time to become familiar with the affairs of the Working Party and the wider environment within which it operates.
• Members of the Working Party are expected to declare any conflicts of interest that arise at Working Party meetings.
• Members have a duty to act responsibly with regard to the effective and efficient administration of the Working Party.
• Members are expected to support any course of action decided upon by the Working Party.

Sub-committees

The group may from time to time approve sub-committees to undertake specific projects and consultation.

Advisory Functions

The Clinical Training Agency (CTA) will have an advisory role to the Working Party.

A representative from this group will have ex-officio membership of the Working Party and will attend meetings when requested by the Working Party.

Secretariat Functions

The Ministry has arranged for an analyst to provide secretariat services for the Working Party. The cost of servicing the Working Party is to be met from the Working Party’s budget.

Duration of the Working Party

The Working Party is of limited duration and will meet to undertake the project between October 2005 and December 2006.

Authority of the Working Party

The Working Party will have authority to:

• Undertake the project as specified within the Terms of Reference
• Report to the Ministry of Health.

Actions related to the recommendations of the Working Party will require approval from the Ministry of Health.

All communications from the working party to the Ministry of Health and any other stakeholders, including media responses, will be issued by the Chair, or a Working Party member delegated by the Chair. All communications to the Working Party will be referred to the Chair for response.

Meetings of the Working Party

The Working Party will meet face-to-face a maximum of four times during the project. Most of the work will be progressed by teleconference or email communication.

A quorum of the Working Party is four members (including the Chair or a Working Party member delegated by the Chair).

The proposed agenda will be circulated to all Working Party members at least two working days prior to meetings, with meeting objectives and a request for any additional items for the agenda. Any additional papers to be read prior to the meeting will also be attached.

Decision-making will be by consensus and where that cannot be reached then by majority decision.

The secretariat will document minutes from Working Party meetings no later than ten working days following the meeting. The minutes will be distributed to Working Party members for agreement before they are signed off by the Chair.