Practitioners | Maintain Competency

Please also refer to other pages in this section.

Under Section 40 (1) of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act, the Dietitians Board has established a competency programme to maintain, examine or improve the competence of dietitians to practise their profession.

The Board's role is to protect the health and safety of the public, and, in a joint initiative with the New Zealand Dietetic Association (NZDA), the Board operates a Continuing Competency Programme (CCP) for dietitians practising in New Zealand. Participation in this programme by registered dietitians is a requirement for the continuing issue of Annual Practising Certificates.

Dietitians will need to keep a record of their continuing competency activities (as outlined in the CCP Manual) by completing the CCP Audit Template. The Word version of the CCP Audit template can be saved onto your own computer so you can write on the form. This must be sent to the Board when you are audited. If you still have a problem writing on the form, please email the Registrar to send you one.

Documents that may help you, include:

• Continuing Competency Programme Manual - Revised June 2010. Warning:This file may take some time to download. This manual incorporates the changes to the CC Programme
• The CCP Audit template (Word Version, effective from 1/4/2010), revised CCP Audit Template (PDFversion), and CCP Audit Template, revised June 2007 (Word version)
• The Board has a manual setting out its policies and procedures for the administration of the Continuing Competency Programme. This manual was updated in August 2006: Manual for Policy and Procedures to Administer New Zealand Dietitians Board Continuing Competency Programme. (PDF, 132 KB)
• Sample Learning Objectives

Dietitians needing advice on the Continuing Competency programme, their credit summary forms and / or being audited, are welcome to contact the nearest Continuing Competency Resource person for assistance.

Attached are sample audit sets for your benefit. Sample 1, Sample 1-Feedback, Sample 2, Sample 3, Sample 3 Evidence-App4, Sample 3 Evidence-App8 and Sample 3 Evidence-App12. 

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER- Please note that the information in the Samples and Appendices above, was accurate at the time the information was written and CANNOT be used for any purpose other than to gain an idea of the type of evidence required by the Board for Audit. These samples (provided by other dietitians) are therefore ONLY intended as a GUIDE and the information contained may now be outdated in some instances.

The Board published its Guidelines for Cultural Competency.(PDF). Dietitians must include Cultural Competency activities within their Continuing Competency Programme. Further information on Cultural Competency is available on page 11 of the revised CCP Manual.

The Board's on-line CULTURAL COMPETENCY course is accessed through this link: http://nzdb.moodle.co.nz/ which includes an on-line test.  You must contact the Registrar for the enrolment key. Successful completion of this course is essential for Australian and UK dietitians applying for registration under 'Mutual Recognition' or the revised UK Policy. The Registrar is able to verify a 'pass' in this course, (prior to issuing Australian / UK dietitians with registration).  The Board has also sourced a worthwhile on-line training course by Mauri Ora  called "Healthcare and the Treaty of Waitangi". Please contact: pauline@mauriora.co.nz for details of how to enrol. Completing this course is now compulsory for Australian and UK trained and registered dietitians prior to registration. A further 'Treaty of Waitangi' course (Auckland area) is available through http://www.trc.org.nz/courses.

Thank you to all dietitians who participated in the Board’s CC Survey earlier in 2009. The feedback the Board gained was extremely helpful and will be the basis for further discussion and any changes to be made to the CC Programme. Please click on this link to read the ‘Summary of the Responses’ prepared by Julian Jensen on behalf of the Board.

Frequently Asked Questions - Maintain Competency

1. Who can I ask for help?
   Please contact the Resource person in your area - names and e-mail contacts are listed above. Otherwise please contact the Registrar who will assist you find a mentor.
   
2. Do I need to send in the four page CCP Audit Template form with my APC Renewal forms?
   NO. We only need the one page APC Credit Summary returned with APC Renewal application forms. Please only send the four page CCP Audit Template in if you are being audited.

(You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to read the PDF files; it's available to download for free. It may take a while to download.)

These documents are also available from the Registrar of the Dietitians Board on request.