Quality in undergraduate nursing programmes: the role of Nursing Council

This paper looks broadly at issues to do with quality monitoring in higher education and considers the role and focus of the Nursing Council of New Zealand in the approval of and ongoing monitoring of undergraduate nursing degree programmes. It is suggested that the approach taken by the Nursing Council is accountability-led where minimal attention is given to teaching and learning and actual graduate outcomes. This may lead to a mistaken belief that Nursing Council's monitoring focuses on quality or that the outcomes of their monitoring might contribute to programme enhancement. A shift to emphasise learning processes, students and continual improvement in order to enhance programme quality is proposed.