Nursing Council of New Zealand
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Annual Report 2013
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38
Addressing concerns about competence,
health and conduct
Table 9
Sources of notifcations and complaints
Number
Consumers
49
Health and Disability Commissioner
15
Health practitioner
17
Court notice of conviction
13
Employer
136
Self
28
Other
39
Total
297
The Council’s role
The Council’s role is to protect the public
by putting in place effective processes
to ensure that nurses are competent
and ft to practise nursing. Systems for
managing complaints about nurses, and
the associated disciplinary sanctions, are
part of a multifaceted approach to the
maintenance of professional standards.
While many concerns about nurses’
conduct will be addressed directly by
employers, where there is a risk to public
safety, complaints about nurses’ conduct
should be made to the Council or to
the Health and Disability Commissioner.
When the conduct has affected a
health consumer, the matter may be
investigated by the Commissioner,
or referred back to the Council for
investigation by a professional conduct
committee (PCC).
When the Council receives a notifcation
of concern about the competence or
health of a nurse or a complaint about
the conduct of a nurse, it considers
whether the matter is within its jurisdiction
(that it is a professional issue rather than
an employment or personal matter) and
whether the complaint or notifcation is
serious enough to warrant further action
by the Council. It then determines if the
matter should be referred to a PCC, the
Health and Disability Commissioner, a
health committee or the competence
review process.
Please note that competence, health and
conduct matters are reported separately
in the following pages.
Table 10
Outcomes of preliminary investigations into notifcations and complaints
Outcome
Number
No further action taken
20
Referred to PCC
38
Referred to Health and Disability Commissioner
46
Referred to Health Committee
54
Referred to competence process
58
Court convictions to PCC
46
Other
35
Total
297