Palliative care nurse practitioners in New Zealand – Can we fill the gaps?

The first Nurse Practitioner was endorsed by the New Zealand Nursing Council in 2001. Legislative changes were made last year which allowed appropriately qualified Nurse Practitioners to prescribe from the open drug formulary.

Five years on there are now 21 endorsed Nurse Practitioners and one endorsed in the scope of Palliative Care. However the way in which these advanced practice roles contribute to health care continues to be debated and the creation of Nurse Practitioner posts in New Zealand has been relatively slow.

The objective of this presentation is to consider the New Zealand Nurse Practitioner competencies and how they relate specifically to palliative care nursing. In addition it will explore the ways in which the Nurse Practitioner role might begin to address some of the current gaps in palliative care service provision.