Nurse Re-entry Program
Delivered by the Nepean Blue Mountains Primary Health Network across Australia, the Nurse Re-entry Program is an Australian Government initiative supporting general practices to build their capability by hosting nurses in supervised placements. Through the program, eligible nurses may be matched with a general practice that will provide a supervised paid placement to regain full registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA).
The program will strengthen general practice teams by training nurses within practices to regain full registration. On the completion of this program, your practice will have a fully registered nurse, ready to join your team. However, there is no requirement to employ the re-entry nurse permanently.
Eligible practices may receive a grant to support this placement.
Who can apply?
This program is available to nurses and practices who meet certain eligibility criteria.
For enrolled nurses (ENs) and registered nurses (RN)s, you must have:
- completed training as an EN or RN, are not currently registered and have not practised in the last 5-10 years
- interest in returning to practise but do not meet the requirements of the NMBA Registration standard: recency of practice.
For Nurse practitioners (NPs), you must:
- have completed training as a NP, are not currently registered and have not practised in the last 5-10 years
OR - be currently practising in another specialty and interest in transitioning to general practice.
Your registration status is important for eligibility - as everyone’s circumstance is different, once you apply we will support you to determine your status and the requirements for your placement (based on the NMBA Re-entry to Practice for Nurses and Midwives Policy). For example, you may have been a practicing nurse but took five years away from practicing to raise a family, or perhaps you never held registration but are now ready to enter the nursing workforce.
For practices, you must:
Be accredited and have an existing RN (minimum 12 months experience in general practice) who can supervise the re-entry nurse for the level and duration required by the NMBA.
How to apply?
Nurses: Expressions of interest (EOI) are now open for the Nurse Re-entry Program. Submit your nurse EOI online and you will be contacted to arrange a suitable time to discuss eligibility and take the next steps towards placement.
Practices: Expressions of interest (EOI) are now open for the Nurse Re-entry Program. Submit your practice EOI online and you will be contacted to arrange a suitable time to discuss practice eligibility and next steps.
More information
If you have any questions on the program, contact the Nepean Blue Mountains Primary Health Network Nurse Re-entry Program team via email. The following resources provide more information about nurse registration:
