Supporting Internationally Qualified Nurses through a Major Competency Assessment Transition

When the Nursing Council of New Zealand announced a significant change to the nursing registration process, moving from the existing Competency Assessment model to the newly developed Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) system, the sector faced a major transition challenge.

At the time, approximately 3,000 internationally qualified nurses had already been accepted into the existing Competency Assessment pathway. With only an 18-month window before the OSCE system came into effect, there was an urgent need to ensure these nurses could complete their registration requirements within the existing framework.

To meet this challenge, we worked in close partnership with the Nursing Council to design and implement a nationwide solution. This led to the creation of a dedicated training entity, New Zealand Industry Training Enterprise, established specifically to deliver the Competency Assessment Programme during the transition period.

Our solution included:

· Developing and delivering an accelerated Competency Assessment Programme tailored to the transition timeframe.

· Scaling delivery capacity to accommodate a large volume of nurses within the 18-month period.

· Ensuring programme quality and alignment with Nursing Council standards while maintaining operational efficiency.

· Providing accessible, flexible training options to support nurses across New Zealand and overseas.

This initiative enabled foreign nurses to successfully complete their Competency Assessment before the OSCE system took effect, safeguarding their pathway to registration and ensuring New Zealand’s healthcare sector retained a vital influx of skilled professionals.

By combining rapid programme development, operational scalability, and sector collaboration, we helped the Nursing Council achieve a smooth and timely transition to the new OSCE-based registration system — while protecting the career aspirations of hundreds of internationally qualified nurses.