Registered nurse

From NursingWiki

A registered nurse (RN) is a nurse licenensed to practice nursing by a regulatory body endorsed by the recognised government of that country or region.

The standards and requirements for this position vary across the world.

Australia

In Australia Nurses are registered by the a group of mirror bodies in each state, such as the Nurses Board of Victoria (NBV).

In Victoria Nurses hold a registration in one of 5 divisions.

• Division 1 : A nurse with a minimum 3 year Bachelors degree in nursing by an institution approved by the nurses board in that state, or the holder of a foreign degree deemed equivalent.
• Division 2 : A nurse with a 1 year full-time or 2 year part-time Certificate IV in Health(Nursing)by an RTO approved by the Nurses Board of Victoria. Also a student studying for Division one, who has completed two years of the course and completed an additional unit on the scope of practice for the Division 2 nurse.

This division is sometimes referred to as an enrolled nurse.

• Division 3: A registered psychiatric nurse. This division is now closed to new entrants. It is intended that the role of this division be replaced over time, by Division one nurses with psychiatric endorsement.s
• Division 4: Closed to new entrants.
• Division 5: Closed to new entrants.

The rest of Australia refers to the Division 1 RN as a Registered Nurse and the Division 2 RN as an Enrolled Nurse (EN). Others states require Enrolled Nurses to complete either a Certificate IV in Nursing or Diploma in Nursing course but hopefully the educational preparation of whole of Australia will be standardised by 2010.

Endorsements:

By completing additional units of study, nurses can gain various endorsements from the Nurses Board of their State, such as medication endorsement for division 2 nurse or Psychiatric Endorsement for Division 1 nurses.

The EN courses across Australia all include a medications component within their curriculum. All graduates of the Certificate IV or Diploma in Nursing (Division 2/Enrolled Nursing) courses are endorsed to deliver medications but there are numerous differences between the States. Currently there is a review of which schedules and delivery methods should be included within these courses so that, over time all Australian trained Division 2 / Enrolled nurses will have the same level of medication endorsement.

United Kingdom

In order to be entered onto the professional register, and therefore practice in the UK it is necessary to undertake a validated course of study, currently provided by universities. This is provided at several academic levels to cater for a variety of pre-registration entrants, however all newly qualified nurses are commenced on the same pay band with similar levels of responsibility. The practical difference between the Diploma in Nursing (DipN), the degree course and post-graduate qualifications is often debated, since it has been suggested that it contributes towards recreating the tiers of nursing wich were removed with the ending of Enrolled Nurse training. Qualification usually takes 3 years, but there are shortened courses now for graduate entrants, who do a post-graduate diploma (PGDipN) which can later be converted to a Masters (MSc). There are also degree courses available, but these are waning in popularity in England due to the funding restrictions placed on them by the government (you can get funded for the DipN, but not for the BSc). However in Wales, since 2004, pre-registration nurse education has been fully graduate. Wales was the first country in the UK to move to an all graduate entry to the profession. Student nurses are entitled to a non means-tested bursary and do not pay tuition fees. The bursary is calculated under the NHS Wales Bursary Scheme and is awarded by the Welsh Assemby Government. The bursary is open to anyone from the UK and is not restricted to Welsh students.

Post-registration education is a very important part of the UK system; it is necessary to go on a number of courses, such as an ITU course for ITU nurses, theatre course for theatre nurses, cannulation course for those working in phlebotomy areas. Post-registration education is provided both by universities and employers. Higher degrees such as PhDs and ClinDocs are beginning to be offered as well for advanced practitioners.

Regulation of the profession is performed by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), who are a semi-autonomous body from government, with the power to hold the register, and add/remove persons from that register as they see fit. It is illegal to practice nursing as an RN without being on this register, and employers are expected to check to ensure those they are hiring are on the register.

Most UK nurses are members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) which is essentially a trade union.

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