A review into two bridging nurse degrees at the heart of Indian nurse protests over New Zealand registration standards is likely to be released in early July.
The New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) said it had updated students at least twice since meeting with students in late May as part of its investigation.
Many nurses are protesting that after investing $17,000 to nearly $19,000 in tuition fees for one-year bridging programmes, offered by Waiariki Institute of Technology and UCOL nursing schools, to upgrade their qualification to a nursing degree they may still not meet the Nursing Council’s education requirements for registration in New Zealand.
The two schools and Council have since put out a joint press release saying they wish to reassure internationally qualified nurses that they were working together to find as soon as possible a “fair”, “reasonable” and legal solution to the concerns raised by the registration candidates.
Major issues in contention include the recognition of prior learning and clinical experience of overseas-trained nurses entering the bridging programmes, what students were told about the degree, and whether the “goal posts” were changed since the nurses arrived to study here (particularly how the academic level of Indian nursing diplomas were assessed).
Tim Fowler, the NZQA deputy chief executive quality assurance, said its review team was specifically examining the policies, procedures and practices used by Waiariki and UCOL for crediting previous study, and for recognising prior learning and clinical experience.
Also whether students achieved the bachelor of nursing degree requirements, and what information was provided to them about the BN degree.
NZQA was also asking the Nursing Council for clarification about its rules and processes for considering registration applications from internationally qualified nurses.
The team, made up of specialists in nursing education, international education and recognition of prior learning, made site visits to the two schools in late May and will first produce a draft report to be sent to the schools to comment on before finalising its report. The final report is expected to be publicly available in early July.
Fowler said NZQA would consider the report and then decide whether any actions were needed.
