Returning to practice
Clinical care, knowledge and skills change rapidly.
The nursing and midwifery standards of practice are regularly updated to ensure practitioners work safely and effectively.
To find out more about returning to nursing or midwifery practice (or if you are thinking of having a break from nursing or midwifery), please read the Getting back into nursing or midwifery factsheet.
Nurses and midwives with current registration
If you are currently a registered nurse or midwife but have had a break from nursing practice, consider a refresher program to update your knowledge and clinical skills.
You can check the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency website to see if you are still registered as a nurse and/or midwife, see the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency – Registers of Practitioners.
Some Victorian public health services offer nursing or midwifery refresher programs, allowing you to build your confidence and skills within a short period of time.
Refresher programs
Refresher pathway for nurses and midwives 2023 and 2024
As part of the Victorian Governments ‘Free nursing and midwifery study’ initiative, 225 nurses and midwives will be supported to return to practice in public health services through a refresher pathway.
This program is offered to nurses and midwives who are registered but have had a break from work in a hospital setting and want to refresh their skills or upskill.
For more information, see Refresher pathway for nurses and midwives.
To find out more about nursing or midwifery refresher programs, speak with your prospective employer and read our factsheets:
Nurses and midwives with lapsed registration
If you are a former registered nurse, enrolled nurse or midwife, contact the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) to find out how to regain your registration or endorsement.
The NMBA may advise you to complete a re-entry course. The NMBA's website has a list of approved programs of study which can assist in gaining registration, endorsement and notation of applicants for registration as an enrolled nurse (EN), registered nurse (RN) and registered midwife.
Re-entry pathway scholarships for nurses and midwives
The Department of Health is offering scholarships for up to 25 registered nurses and midwives a year to return to practice via the re-entry pathway. For more information, see Re-entry pathway scholarships for nurses and midwives.
Reviewed 06 September 2023
Health.vic
-
- Hospitals & health services
- Public hospitals in Victoria
-
- Quality, safety and service improvement
- Planned surgery recovery and reform program
- My Health Record
- Public hospital accreditation in Victoria
- Credentialing for senior medical staff in Victoria
- Clinical risk management
- Preventing infections in health services
- Healthy choices
- Victorian Perinatal Data Collection
-
- Rural health
- Improving Access to Primary Care in Rural and Remote Areas Initiative
- Rural x-ray services
- Rural health regions and locations
- Rural and regional medical director role
- Victorian Patient Transport Assistance Scheme
- Rural and isolated practice registered nurses
- Urgent care in regional and rural Victoria
-
- Private health service establishments
- Private hospitals
- Day procedure centres
- Mobile health services
- Fees for private health service establishments in Victoria
- Design resources for private health service establishments
- Professional standards in private health service establishments
- Legislation updates for private health service establishments
- Complaints about private health service establishments
- Cosmetic procedures
- Guideline for providers of liposuction
- Private hospital funding agreement
-
- Primary & community health
- Local Public Health Units
- Integrated care
-
- Maternal and Child Health Service
- Nursery Equipment Program
- Maternal and Child Health Service Framework
- Maternal and Child Health Service resources
- Child Development Information System
- Early parenting centres
- Maternal Child and Health Reporting, Funding and Data
- Baby bundle
- Sleep and settling
- Maternal and Child Health Workforce professional development
- Aboriginal Maternal and Child Health
- Public Dental and Community Health Program funding model review
-
- Public health
-
- Cemeteries and crematoria
- Cemetery trust member appointments
- Cemetery search
- Cemeteries and crematoria complaints
- Cremations
- Exhumations
- Governance and finance
- Cemetery grants
- Interments and memorials
- Land and development
- Legislation governing Victorian cemeteries and crematoria
- Cemeteries and crematoria publications
- Repatriations
- Rights of interment
-
- Medicines and Poisons Regulation
- Patient Schedule 8 treatment permits
- Schedule 8 MDMA and Schedule 8 psilocybine
- Schedule 9 permits for clinical trials
- Documents and forms to print or download
- Legislation and Approvals
- Frequently Asked Questions - Medicines and Poisons Regulation
- Health practitioners
- Licences and permits to possess (& possibly supply) scheduled substances
- Medicinal cannabis
- Pharmacotherapy (opioid replacement therapy)
- Recent updates
- SafeScript
-
- Environmental health
- Improving childhood asthma management in Melbourne's inner west
- Climate and weather, and public health
- Environmental health in the community
- Environmental health in the home
- Environmental health professionals
- Face masks for environmental hazards
- Human health risk assessments
- Lead and human health
- Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
- Pesticide use and pest control
-
- Immunisation
- Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) immunisation
- Seasonal influenza vaccine
- Immunisation schedule and vaccine eligibility criteria
- Ordering vaccine
- Immunisers in Victoria
- Immunisation provider information
- Cold chain management
- Adverse events following immunisation reporting
- Vaccine error management
- Vaccination for infants and children
- Vaccination for adolescents
- Vaccination program for adults
- Vaccination for special-risk groups
- Immunisation resources order form
- Victorian coverage rates for Victoria
-
- Infectious diseases guidelines & advice
- Infection control guidelines
- Disease information and advice
- Advice to the cruise industry: reporting infections
- Notifiable infectious diseases, conditions and micro-organisms
- Notification procedures for infectious diseases
- Infectious diseases surveillance in Victoria
- Germicidal ultraviolet light
- Protecting patient privacy in Victoria
-
- Tobacco reforms
- Tobacco reform legislation and regulations
- E-cigarettes and vaping
- Quitting smoking and vaping
- Tobacco and e-cigarette retailers
- Making a report or complaint
- Resources and factsheets
-
- Mental health
-
- About Victoria's mental health services
- Area-based services
- Statewide and specialist mental health services
- Mental Health Community Support Services
- Support and intervention services
- Language services - when to use them
- Access to mental health services across areas
- Transport for people in mental health services
-
- Alcohol & drugs
-
- Alcohol and other drug treatment services
- Overview of Victoria's alcohol and drug treatment system
- Pathways into alcohol and other drugs treatment
- Prevention and harm reduction
- Medically supervised injecting room
- Victoria's Take-Home Naloxone Program
- Community-based AOD treatment services in Victoria
- Drug rehabilitation plan
- Hospital-based services
- Forensic services
- Pharmacotherapy treatment
- Services for Aboriginal people
- Services for young people
- Statewide and specialist services
- Compulsory treatment
- Family and peer support
-
- Alcohol and other drug service standards and guidelines
- Alcohol and other drug client charter and resources
- Alcohol and other drug treatment principles
- Service quality and accreditation
- Alcohol and other drug program guidelines
- Maintenance pharmacotherapy
- Drink and Drug Driving Behaviour Change Program
- Alcohol and Other Drug Residential Rehabilitation Facility Design Guidelines
- Specialist Family Violence Advisor capacity building program in mental health and alcohol and other drug services - Victoria
-
- Drug alerts
- 25C-NBOMe and 4-FA sold as '2C-B'
- Novel stimulants sold as MDMA, cocaine or speed
- Protonitazene sold as ketamine
- High potency benzodiazepine tablets
- MDMA adulterated with PMMA
- 25B-NBOH sold as powdered 'LSD'
- Green 'UPS' pills containing N-ethylpentylone (no MDMA)
- N-ethylpentylone in cocaine
-
- Ageing & aged care
- My Aged Care assessment services
-
- Dementia-friendly environments
- Designing for people with dementia
- Maintaining personal identity
- Personal enjoyment
- Interior design
- Dining areas, kitchens and eating
- Bedrooms and privacy
- Bathrooms
- Gardens and outdoor spaces
- Assistive technology
- Staff education and support
- Strategies, checklists and tools
- References
-
- About us
- Our Strategic Plan 2023-27
- Our ministers
-
- Health workforce
- Working in health
- Information sharing and MARAM
- Victorian Public Healthcare Awards
- Aboriginal healthcare workers
- Allied health workforce
- Education and training
- Enterprise agreements
- Worker health and wellbeing
- Our campaigns
More information
- Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency – Registers of Practitioners You can use the register to check the registration status of all health practitioners who are registered to practise in Australia.
- Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) Regulating Australia's nurses and midwives
- Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia – approved programs of study Find all approved programs of study leading to registration, endorsement and notation of applicants for registration as an enrolled nurse (EN), registered nurse (RN) and midwife.