Revalidation for Agency Nurses and Midwives
Medacs Healthcare is committed to being at the forefront of revalidation within the healthcare sector and are proud to be a key support for all nurses and midwives.
Whilst the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) have confirmed that it is the responsibility of the registered nurse to complete their revalidation, Medacs Healthcare believe that we should be supporting you as much as possible.
That’s why we’ve created some helpful guidance which highlights important information as provided by the NMC.
Revalidation and the Code
The revalidation model aligns to the four themes of the Code:
- Prioritise people by actively seeking and reflecting on any direct feedback received from patients, service users and others to ensure that you are able to fulfil their needs.
- Practise effectively by reflecting on your professional development with your colleagues, identifying areas for improvement in your practice and undertaking professional development activities.
- Preserve safety by practising within your competency for the minimum number of practice hours, reflecting on feedback, and addressing any gaps in your practice through continuing professional development (CPD).
- Promote professionalism and trust by providing feedback and helping other NMC colleagues reflect on their professional development, and being accountable to others for your professional development and revalidation.
Find out your renewal date
Firstly, if you don’t already know, find out your renewal date – the date that your registration period will expire. You will need to submit your revalidation application to the NMC before this date. You can find out your renewal date by logging onto your NMC online account. Please ensure that you do this with your own dedicated password and the NMC website will guide you through the process.
Expert advice
Medacs Healthcare will be on hand to help and support you throughout the new process. By linking in with our Clinical Governance department, we will provide the latest updates on the requirements.
Our revalidation champions and Anne Anderson, Head of Clinical Services are fully up-to-date on the process following ongoing conferences, training sessions and attendance at events. You'll also be pleased to know that all of our nursing employees have received full training on the process, so you're in safe hands.
Step-by-step guide
Take a look at our step-by-step Guide to Revalidation, which relates to specific NMC requirements. You'll find everything you need to know to support you at each step.
We're here to help!
If you have any questions about revalidation, please contact our revalidation team on the form below and we’ll be happy to help.
This guidance provides general information and some helpful tips on revalidation for nurses and midwives. It is not meant to replace or supersede the NMC's information.
If you wish to see full guidance on how to complete your revalidation, please visit the NMC's website.
You must be able to evidence that you have worked 450 practice hours over the three years prior to the renewal of your registration.
The NMC have confirmed that if you have practised for less than the required number of hours in the three years prior to the date of your application for renewal of your registration, then you must successfully complete an appropriate return to practice programme approved by the NMC or test of competence before the date of your application for renewal of registration.
If you are selected to provide further information to verify your declaration within your application, you will be asked to provide the following:
- dates of practice
- the number of hours you undertook
- name, address and postcode of the organisations
- scope of practice
- work setting
- a description of the work you undertook; and
- evidence of those practice hours, such as timesheets, job specifications and role profiles.
So please ensure that you record these in preparation.
You must be able to evidence 35 hours of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) which is relevant to your practice as a nurse and over the three years prior to the renewal of your registration. 20 hours must be through participatory learning.
You must maintain accurate records of the CPD you have undertaken. These records must contain:
- the CPD method;
- a description of the topic and how it related to your practice;
- the dates on which the activity was undertaken;
- the number of hours (including the number of participatory hours);
- the identification of the part of the Code most relevant to the activity; and
- evidence that you undertook the CPD activity.
The NMC don’t list a particular type of CPD and it is your responsibility to judge what learning activity would be best suited to your individual practice.
You must present at least five pieces of practice related feedback. The feedback can be informal / formal, written or verbal and from a number of sources including patients, service users, students and colleagues.
If you do obtain practice related feedback from a patient, please remember to get their consent first and anonymise the content.
You can collect feedback based on your individual performance or on your team, unit, ward or organisation’s performance. However, you will need to be clear on how this has specifically impacted your individual performance.
Format of feedback collected
Feedback can be received verbally or written, formal or informal and it does not need to be from fellow nurses or midwives. It could be from colleagues in management, on reception, office administration, or fellow teachers and academics.
You must record a minimum of five written reflections and discussions relating to the Code, your CPD and practice related feedback.
You must have a professional development discussion with another NMC registered nurse and cover your reflections relating to the above.
The NMC registered nurse is required to record their NMC Pin, e-mail, professional address and postcode, as well as the date you had the discussion.
While this discussion can form part of your wider confirmation discussion, it is not the same as obtaining confirmation.
You must provide a Health and Character Declaration and declare if you have been convicted of any criminal offence or issued with a formal caution.
When making these declarations, please refer to the NMC’s guidelines.
You must declare that you have, or will have when practising, appropriate cover under an indemnity arrangement.
By law, you must have in place an appropriate indemnity arrangement in order to practise and provide care. While the arrangement does not need to be individually held by you, it is your responsibility to ensure that appropriate cover is in force.
Please note: If you do not have the appropriate indemnity cover, you will be removed from the NMC register and will be unable to practice as a nurse.
Your third-party confirmer will be considered to be your line manager within Medacs Healthcare and doesn’t need to be NMC registered.
However, if your confirmer is NMC registered, they are likely to have a professional development discussion at the point of your confirmation meeting.
Your confirmer will verify the declarations within your application in a face-to-face meeting and you will have to demonstrate that you have met all of the revalidation requirements before they can sign and date the confirmation form.
The NMC recommend that you obtain your confirmation during the final 12 months of the three-year registration period to ensure that it is recent. If you’re confirmation is produced earlier, you may be asked to explain why.
It’s likely that your confirmer will also conduct your annual appraisals, that way you can keep your confirmer up-to-date with all of your revalidation preparation.
The NMC will notify you at least 60 days before your application for revalidation is due.
You will then have 60 days to log onto NMC Online and complete the revalidation application form.
Please ensure that at this point, you have all of your revalidation evidence collated and ready to submit.
As part of your revalidation application, you will need to pay your renewal fee.
Know your registration date
Please ensure that you know your re-register date and are planning ahead.
It is illegal for you to continue working if you’re not on the NMC register and it could result in getting suspended from work. Also note that readmission to the register can take a minimum of between two to six weeks, meaning that you’ll not be paid for this period.
NMC online account
The easiest way to maintain registration is through an NMC Online account. On NMC Online, you can:
- view registration status
- find out your renewal date
- update your contact and address details
- view and print a statement of entry
- submit your notification of practice (NoP) online
- pay your annual retention or renewal fees
- set up a direct debit for your annual fee payment
- provide equality and diversity information, and
- provide details about where you work
