The document discusses the new NMC Code of professional standards and the process of revalidation that all nurses and midwives in the UK must undergo every three years to maintain their registration. Revalidation involves meeting requirements centered around practice hours, continuing professional development, obtaining practice feedback, creating written reflective accounts, and having a reflective discussion to demonstrate upholding the standards of the NMC Code. The goal of revalidation is to strengthen public protection by promoting continuous professional development and improved nursing practice.

2. The Code and
Revalidation
For everyone’s protection

3. What is the new Code?
• The NMC has updated its Code of professional
standards.
• The revised Code became effective on 31 March 2015
and all registered nurses and midwives are required to
uphold its standards of practice and behaviours.
• The Code is centred around four themes, with public
protection at the core, and builds on the existing
foundation of good nursing and midwifery practice.
• The Code should be used as a ‘living’ guide at the heart
of everyday nursing and midwifery practice.

4. Four themes brought together
in one Code
Together they signify good nursing and midwifery practice.

5. The Code aims to:
• Remain relevant – it was last updated in 2008 and since then society has
changed, along with public expectations of nursing and midwifery practice.
• Align with health regulatory processes across the UK and respond to high-
profile reports on the state of health and social care provision in the UK.
• Acknowledge and regulate the changing, and wider role, of nurses and
midwives in the UK.

6. What is ?
• Every three years, at the point of their renewal of registration, nurses and midwives
will need to show that, as a professional, they are living by the Code’s standards of
practice and behaviour.
• This process is called revalidation and it builds on the current Prep requirements.
• Participation is on an on-going basis rather than a point in time assessment.
• Nurses and midwives will need to meet a range of requirements, designed to show
that they are keeping up to date and practise safely and effectively.
• Revalidation is about promoting good practice across the whole population of nurses
and midwives. It is not an assessment of a nurse or midwife’s fitness to practise.

7. Revalidation aims to:
• Raise awareness of the Code and professional standards expected of nurses
and midwives;
• Allow nurses and midwives to reflect on the role of the Code in their practice
and demonstrate that they are ‘living’ these standards;
• Encourage nurses and midwives to stay up to date in their professional practice;
• Encourage a culture of sharing, reflection and improvement;
• Encourage nurses and midwives to engage in professional networks and
discussions about their practice; and
• Strengthen public confidence in the nursing and midwifery profession.
Overall, revalidation should lead to improved practice and therefore public
protection benefits.

8. Provisional revalidation
requirements

9. Practice
hours
Continuing
professional
development
Practice
related
feedback
Written
reflective
accounts
Reflection
discussion
Health
and
character
Professional
indemnity
arrangement
Confirmation

10. Revalidation Provisional Requirements
Revisions to the model are still being made to reflect feedback from the pilots
Practice hours
You must practise a minimum of 450 hours (900 hours for those with dual
registration) over the three years prior to the renewal of your registration.
Continuing
professional
development
You must undertake 35 hours of continuing professional development (CPD)
relevant to your scope of practice as a nurse or midwife, over the three years prior
to the renewal of your registration. 20 hours of CPD must be through participatory
learning.
Practice-related
feedback
You must obtain at least five pieces of practice-related feedback over the three
years prior to the renewal of your registration.
Written reflective
accounts
You must prepare a minimum of five written reflective accounts on what you learnt
from your CPD, practice-related feedback or an event or experience in your
practice, and explain how this is relevant to the Code.
Reflective
discussion
You must discuss these reflective accounts with another NMC-registered nurse or
midwife as part of a reflective discussion.
Health and
character
You must provide a health and character declaration, including declaring any
cautions or convictions.
Professional
indemnity
arrangement
You must declare that you have, or will have when practising, appropriate cover
under an indemnity arrangement.
Confirmation
You will need to demonstrate to an appropriate person (Line manager) that you
have met the revalidation requirements.
Keeping
a portfolio
We strongly recommend that you keep evidence that you have met these
requirements in a portfolio. (This is, however, optional).

11. Practice hours
You must have practised a minimum number of hours over the
three years since your registration was last renewed or you joined
the register.
450Minimum total practice hours
required
Those with dual registration must
undertake 900 hours
Hours

12. Hours must be carried out in your role as a
registered nurse or midwife:-
Which could include:
• clinical care, for example in an acute or community setting
• nursing and midwifery education and research
• policy advisory roles
• management and leadership roles specific to nursing or midwifery
• Volunteering for a charity, for which you must be a registered nurse
• Any queries that are not clear on the NMC website need to be
clarified directly with the NMC by the registrant – with email
evidence of the advice given to share with the person who is
requested to sign the 3rd party statement

13. Portfolio Record
• We recommend that you maintain a
record of your practice hours in your
portfolio, including:
• Dates of practice
• Hours undertaken
• Details of the organisation
• Scope of practice
• Work setting
• Description of work
• Evidence (e.g. timesheets)

14. Continuing professional development
You must have undertaken continuing professional development (CPD),
relevant to your scope of practice as a nurse or midwife, over the three
years since your registration was last renewed or you joined the register.
(excludes mandatory training such as fire lectures or general H&S )
35 Of these 35 hours of CPD, 20 must
include participatory learning
Hours

15. 35 hours CPD
You must undertake 35 hours of Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
relevant to your scope of practice , over the 3 years prior to renewal of
registration:-
Of these hours, 20 must be through participatory learning.
You need to maintain accurate records of your CPD and demonstrate how you
have used it to reflect on and improve your practice in your written reflections.
Participatory learning includes any learning activity which involves interacting
with other people, such as:
• study days
• learning events, such as a conference or workshop
• peer review
• group supervision
• coaching, mentoring and shadowing
• root cause analysis / significant event analysis meeting
• participation in clinical audit, practice visits and MDT meetings
• quality improvement meetings etc.

16. Portfolio Record
You must maintain accurate records of your CPD,
including:
• CPD method
• Description of the topic and how it relates to
your practice
• Dates and number of hours
• Relevance to Code
• Evidence that CPD has taken place – internally
evidence can be the signed copy of your appraisal document,
management supervision documentation, team training records.

17. Practice-related feedback
You must have obtained practice-related feedback over the three
years since your registration was last renewed or you joined the
register.
5Pieces

18. Practice-related feedback
• You must obtain at least five pieces of practice-related feedback over
the three years prior to the renewal of your registration.
• Feedback can come from a variety of sources, including patients,
service users, students and colleagues.
• Feedback can also be obtained through reviewing complaints, team
performance reports and serious event reviews.
• Feedback can be informal or formal, written or verbal. It could be
specific feedback about an individual, or feedback about a whole
service, team or organisation.
Portfolio record:
• We recommend that you keep notes of the content of the feedback.
• You will not need to record the actual instances of feedback in your
portfolio, but you will need to demonstrate how you used feedback to
reflect on and improve your practice in your written reflections.
• Be careful not to record any information that might identify a specific
patient or service user.

19. Written reflective accounts
You must have prepared written reflective accounts on your CPD,
practice-related feedback, and/or an event or experience in your practice,
and explain how this relates to the Code. You should prepare these over
the three years since your registration was last renewed or you joined the
register.
5Reflections

20. • You must record a minimum of five written reflections on the Code, your
CPD and practice-related feedback over the three years prior to the
renewal of your registration.
You must discuss these reflections with another NMC-registered
nurse as part of a professional development discussion- usually your line
manager
• Each reflective account can be about an instance of CPD or feedback, or
a combination of both. For example, you could create a reflective
account on a particular topic which may have arisen through some
feedback your team received, such as consent and confidentiality, and
identify how that relates to the Code.
Portfolio record:- You will need to record
• Five written reflective accounts that explain what you learnt, how you
changed or improved your work as a result and how it is relevant to the
Code.
• A completed reflection and discussion form with details of, the person
with whom you have had the discussion.
You must use the mandatory NMC templates provided online
Written reflective accounts

21. You must have had a reflective discussion with another NMC-registered
nurse or midwife, usually your line manager,covering your five written
reflective accounts and how they relate to the Code
Template forms are available on NMC website
Reflective discussion
Reflective discussion

22. Health and character
You must provide a health and character declaration, including
declaring any cautions or convictions or determinations from
another regulatory body.
Health and character

23. You must provide a health and character declaration.
You must declare if you have been convicted of any criminal offence or
issued with a formal caution.
Good character is important and is central to the Code because nurses and
midwives must be honest and trustworthy. Your good character is based on
your conduct, behaviour and attitude. In accordance with the Code, we
expect you to declare any cautions and convictions to the NMC immediately,
not just at the point of renewal.
We expect you to be in a state of health that ensures you are capable of safe
and effective practice without supervision, after any reasonable adjustments
are made by your employer. This does not mean there must be a total
absence of any disability or health condition. Many people with disabilities or
health conditions are able to practise effectively with or without adjustments
to support their practice.
Portfolio record:
These declarations will be made as part of your revalidation application. You
do not need to keep anything in your portfolio as part of this requirement.
Health and character

24. Professional indemnity arrangement
You must declare that you have, or will have when practising, appropriate
cover under an indemnity arrangement.
You must inform us whether this arrangement is through your employer, a membership with a
professional body, or through a private insurance arrangement.
Portfolio record
We recommend that you retain evidence that you have an appropriate arrangement in place.
If you work for the NHS
If you work for the NHS, you will already have an appropriate indemnity arrangement. The NHS
insures its employees for work carried out on its behalf. This means that you will be covered if a
claim is made against you in an NHS role.
Indemnity

25. Confirmation
You will need to demonstrate to an appropriate person that you
have met the revalidation requirements.
A confirmer is being asked to assess whether you have demonstrated that you
have met the requirements for revalidation, not whether you are fit to practise.
Confirmation

26. You will need to demonstrate that you have met the revalidation
requirements by having a confirmation discussion where you
demonstrate how you have met the revalidation requirements. This can
form part of an annual appraisal or six monthly review
An appropriate confirmer is your line manager. We recommend that you
obtain confirmation from this person wherever possible. A line manager
does not have to be an NMC registered nurse or midwife.
If you do not have a line manager, we recommend that the person is an
NMC-registered nurse or midwife. If that is not possible, you can seek
confirmation from another healthcare professional that you work with
and who is regulated in the UK.
Portfolio record:
A mandatory confirmation form is available online and can be stored
electronically
Confirmation

27. How does this work in practice?
When the confirmer is a registered
nurse or midwife:
• The reflective discussion and
confirmation discussion can happen
with the same person.
• Nurses and midwives might like to
have these discussions at one
meeting, for example, at an annual
appraisal.
When the confirmer is not a registered
nurse or midwife:
• The reflective discussion with another
NMC-registered nurse or midwife must
happen first.
• The confirmation discussion will need
to happen after all other requirements
are met.

28. Understanding
the big picture

29. The anticipated benefits of revalidation
For the public:
• Provide confidence that nurses and
midwives are up to date in terms of their
skills and professional development
• Provide assurance that nurses and
midwives are being regularly reviewed
For nurses and midwives:
• Raise awareness of the Code and standards
that are expected of nurses and midwives
• Encourage a culture of sharing, reflection
and continuous improvement
• Encourage nurses to stay up to date in their
professional practice
For employers:
• Increase confidence that their staff practise
safely and effectively
• Encourage more consistent participation in
appraisal and professional development
• Help clarify the nature and scope of
investment required in CPD
For the NMC:
• Help to strengthen our regulation of nurses
and midwives
• Help to raise standards of practice
• Provide more insight into how nursing and
midwifery professions are practising

30. What should all nurses and
midwives do to prepare?
1 Sign up to NMC Online at www.nmc.org.uk/nmc-
online
2 Find out your renewal date (which is when you will
revalidate)
3 Read the current guidance and keep up to date at
www.nmc.org.uk/revalidation