The Nursing and Midwifery Council of Australia

Previous system of the register – Originally there were big books called “Registers”. If nurses could prove that they had sufficient education and that they could be trusted to use their knowledge in the interests of their patients, they could have their names entered in one of the Registers. Persons whose names were entered in these books of educated and trusted clinicians were said to be “registered”. * Change to legislation – The regulation of assistants in nursing who provided nursing care but had less education than registered nurses. A separate book was used to record their names and it was titled the “Roll of Nurses”. Persons whose names were entered in the book were said to be “enrolled”. Titles have changed over the years and the title is now “Enrolled Nurse”. * The same principles apply today- The requirements for registration or enrolment are that the person be trustworthy and the person have adequate education for the particular type of practice to be undertaken. * Computerised database- The Registers and Roll are no longer big books with handwritten entries.