Credit for Prior Study in Courses Leading to Registration
The Nurses and Midwives Act 1991 provides that a function of the Board is to grant recognition to:
(i) institutions offering courses,
(ii) the curricula for courses and
(iii) the qualifications awarded,
in order to facilitate registration, authorisation and enrolment. The legislation requires that courses, recognised to facilitate application for registration as a nurse or midwife, may be conducted only in Australia.1
Consistent with the requirement that courses be undertaken in Australia, credit for prior study2 may not be granted for subjects in a recognised curriculum on the basis of study undertaken outside Australia.
If credit is granted by a university for studies undertaken in an Australian university, then the Board may consider that the student has undertaken the recognised course if it can be demonstrated that at least 80% of the learning objectives and content of the subjects for which credit is granted, have previously been studied in an Australian university within a reasonable time period such as not more than seven years prior to resuming study or not more than 10 years prior to completion of the course. This would apply if a student transfers from one recognised nursing or midwifery curriculum to another curriculum in the same university, if the student transfers from a pre-registration nursing or midwifery course in another Australian university, or if a student has undertaken similar subjects (e.g. studies in a science course in an Australian university). In order for the nursing course to be considered as a recognised course and the student be able to have an application processed in the facilitated pathway, the university must provide documents for each student showing comparability of prior subjects undertaken at the same university or another Australian university against the subjects in the recognised curriculum, for which credit has been given.
The following supplementary information may assist in implementation of legislation and policy in this matter.
1. Duration of Recognised Courses
Guidelines issued by the Board provide that courses leading to registration as a nurse or midwife must be at least at the level of a university-based bachelor degree with a minimum length equivalent to six full-time semesters.
The Board may consider granting recognition to courses of less than six semesters in circumstances where there are specified entry criteria which enable a student to complete the requirements in a shorter time. For example the Board has approved courses of four or five semesters duration, leading to registration as a nurse, where students have prior qualifications such as a degree in another discipline, a three-year post-secondary nursing course undertaken in another country, or a nursing course leading to an enrolled nurse qualification in Australia. Shorter courses have been recognised for registered nurses undertaking courses leading to registration as a midwife.
2. Courses for persons who have undertaken nursing and midwifery courses in other countries or have undertaken prior study in Australia but not in a university
Students who have undertaken prior study in another country or have undertaken prior study in Australia but not in a university, will be eligible for registration through a facilitated pathway only if a course, recognised by the Board, is completed in its entirety at a university which is recognised by the Board. This may include courses shorter than six full-time semesters, where the courses have special entry criteria and have been submitted to the Board and approved.
Courses designed for applicants with qualifications obtained in other countries also have specified English language requirements for admission.
3. Transition arrangements when changing curriculum
Where a university changes from one approved curriculum to a new curriculum, there may be students who started in the old curriculum who need to be transferred into the new curriculum. As an alternative to documenting recognition of prior learning for each individual student for consideration by the Board on a case-by-case basis, universities may prefer to develop transition arrangements, with appropriate justification for proposals, as part of the new curriculum. Prior approval of such transition arrangements will provide certainty for students and will enable access to the facilitated pathway for the processing of applications for registration after completion of a hybrid course.
4. Graduates who have completed courses which are not recognised by the Board for the purpose of facilitating registration
The Nurses and Midwives Act provides for the Board to grant registration to persons who have completed courses which have not been granted recognition but only if certain requirements are satisfied3 In order to grant registration in each such case, the Board must approve the qualification and be satisfied that the individual's qualification(s) are adequate for registration, including a provision for the Board to specify that the person undertake such examinations and further education as the Board requires in the particular case. The requirements for recognised courses provide the benchmarks in assessing other applications. The processing of applications under these provisions usually takes some time and applications considered under these provisions may be refused.
Applications from persons who have completed unrecognised courses are assessed as closely as possible against the requirements for recognised courses. Applicants must usually provide evidence of completion of six semesters of study, at an Australian university or an education institution which has the characteristics of an Australian university, and the course should have addressed the Board's requirements for courses leading to registration as a nurse or midwife, as applicable. If an applicant had prior qualifications that may have permitted admission to a recognised course of four or five semesters (e.g. has previously undertaken three years of post-secondary education in nursing or midwifery in another country) and has then completed four or five semesters at an Australian university and has addressed the Board's requirements for courses leading to registration, then the Board may be satisfied that the applicant be granted registration.
There is an onus on each applicant to provide information which satisfies the Board that sufficient study has been undertaken and that the course permitted completion of the Board's education requirements for registration.
5. Persons enrolled in recognised courses prior to April 2008
As the legislated requirement relating to recognised courses being undertaken only in Australia has not previously been clarified, there may be instances where students have been enrolled in recognised courses and granted credit for study undertaken in another country. Where a student has been enrolled, prior to April 2008, in accord within admission and credit provisions of a curriculum approved by the Board, and credit has been given for prior learning undertaken outside Australia, universities are invited to provide specific details to the Board prior to students completing their courses, so that registration may be expedited if possible. In these cases, it will still generally be necessary to show that equivalent learning objectives and course content have been studied in the breadth and depth that is consistent with study at an Australian university.
Special arrangements are not offered where students have been enrolled outside the provisions of curricula approved by the Board or after April 2008.
6. Courses Leading to Authorisation of Nurse Practitioners
Legislation does not require that recognised courses leading to authorisation of nurse practitioners and midwife practitioners be conducted in Australia. However, at this time the Board recommends that universities adopt the same principles that apply to courses leading to registration.
7. Courses Leading to Enrolment of Enrolled Nurses
Requirements for recognition of prior learning are specified in the Board's guidelines for recognised courses leading to enrolment.
Footnotes
- Nurses and Midwives Act 1991, sections 10(1)(g), 18(1)(a) and 19(1)(a)
- The term credit for prior study is used here to encompass credit, advanced standing or recognition of prior learning, however titled.
- Nurses and Midwives Act 1991, sections 18(1)(d) and 19(1)(c)
This document was subject of consultation between representatives of the Board and Deans/Heads of Schools of Nursing and Midwifery in April 2008 and approved to be issued on 1 May 2008. The document may be modified after further consultation and deliberation.
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