Introduction: 

Nurses make up the largest part of the professional health workforce and whether in the community or in hospitals deliver a large range of health services to people in our community everyday. We believe the development of the nursing workforce is important for us to achieve our mission.  Therefore all nurses at the time of employment are required to participate in the ADHB PDRP. It is an expectation that nurses will have evidence (portfolio) of continuing competence/level of practice assessed at the end of their first year of employment at ADHB (unless transferring from another approved PDRP) and three yearly there after. 

1988 saw ADHB introduce its first PDRP which was an innovative solution to support and recognise the contribution staff nurses make to patient care delivery and encourage them to remain in a staff nurse role.

Since that time, the purpose of the Levels of Practice component of the PDRP remains to recognise, value and reward the contribution made to patient outcomes by staff nurses and enrolled nurses. Alongside recognition and valuing the PDRP also provides the opportunity to articulate the competencies that differentiate practice between the levels of practice and then to develop and implement training and education opportunities for nurses to support their progression and achievement of their professional goals while maintaining their involvement in providing direct patient care. There is no restriction on the number of nurses at any of the four Levels of Practice. Our current aim is to achieve a skill-mix of at least 60% of our staff nurses recognised at Level III (proficient) & IV (expert).

Performance criteria build through the levels of practice. Furthermore the Levels of Practice component provides managers with a tool to understand the capabilities of their nursing workforce for example where additional support or resource is required. Finally, the Levels of Practice component of the PDRP allows practice to be quantitatively and qualitatively differentiated. Although nurses in designated roles (e.g. Charge Nurse, Nurse Educator) do not have Levels of Practice they do participate in the PDRP. 

More recently, three significant changes: the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act (2003) (HPCA Act); the NZNO Nurses & Midwives MECA, (between the NZNO and District Health Boards New Zealand) and the Nursing Council of New Zealand (NCNZ) move to approve PDRP’s, have meant that competence assessment as part of a PDRP is a key mechanism all nurses can use to assure themselves, NCNZ, their patients and their employer of their on-going competence. For staff nurses, enrolled and obstetric nurses portfolio assessment incorporates assessment of continuing competence and level of practice, whereas, for nurses in senior (designated) roles the sole purpose of portfolio assessment is continuing competence. At ADHB all nurses participate in the PDRP and have their portfolio assessed at least every 3 years. 

Aim

The ADHB Nursing PDRP aims to support the development of a nursing workforce that will assist ADHB achieve its vision and goals.  At the same time providing opportunities for nurses to develop and extend their capabilities and achieve their career aspirations.

 THE P.D.R.P:

§       is a framework which provides structured support, learning and feedback to assist nurses develop the knowledge and skills necessary to provide safe and effective patient care.

§       enables the development of a range of transferable clinical, professional and personal skills which can be used in care delivery, team work and leadership throughout ones career,

§       encourages, recognises and values nurses who can effectively and accurately anticipate and initiate care to meet the needs of the patients, clients, service users,

§       is a risk management tool that seeks to minimise risk by ensuring that all staff know the standard of care required in the specialty and that care is provided by those competent to provide it,

§       recognise and differentiate staff nurse, enrolled and obstetric nurses’ practice based on the individual’s achievement of specified competencies (performance criteria) for each level of practice,

§       prepares staff nurses to progress to advanced practice clinical and leadership roles.

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