Revalidation

The NMC is committed to delivering an effective system of revalidation for all nurses and midwives by 2014

Revalidation will enhance public protection and patient safety and increase public confidence in nurses and midwives.

Aims

Revalidation aims to deliver a proportionate, effective, evidence based and affordable system that will:

  • enable the NMC to confirm, on a continuous basis, that:
    • nurses and midwives are fit and safe to practise
    • their skills and knowledge are up to date and specific to their current area and scope of practice
  • promote a culture of continuous improvement in practice to nurses and midwives.

The current Prep standards

When the new revalidation standard is produced it will replace the Prep standards . It will also be accompanied by guidance and advice that reflects contemporary practice and that has been developed through extensive engagement with stakeholders.

For the time being, nurses and midwives remain individually responsible for meeting the practice and learning requirements set by the current Prep standards. They risk criminal prosecution if they falsely declare they have met these requirements on their registration renewal form.

Development

The Nursing and Midwifery Policy and Standards directorate has been tasked with leading the development and introduction of this new system.

The revalidation team have completed a key work package to scope, document and agree initial proposals.

Initial proposals

These high-levels proposals were agreed by Council in March 2011. They provide that revalidation will deliver:

  • a standard and guidance that builds upon and replace the Post registration education and practice (Prep) standards and sets requirements for revalidation within the framework provided by The code: Standards of conduct, performance and ethics for nurses and midwives
  • an enhanced renewal of registration process
  • an enhanced continuing professional development (CPD) validation process which:
    • focuses on identifying the outcomes of learning activities and their impact on fitness to practise
    • ensures that learning activities are relevant to the current area and scope of practice and that they help improve practice
  • a risk-based audit process which is based on a sound statistical model combining risk-based, random and stratified sampling methods
  • processes for:
    • the submission and assessment of evidence
    • provision of feedback
    • resubmission of evidence, if necessary
    • removal from the register for those who do not meet the standard
  • a cost-efficient infrastructure to support the revalidation system that also enables nurses and midwives to record CPD activities and renew their registration online.

Next steps

The revalidation team is now focused on engaging with key external stakeholders to:

  • validate these NMC proposals,
  • address other key issues
  • and ensure that contributions to the development of the system are visible.
Created date :
24/08/2011
Modified date :
13/09/2011