Revalidation for Nurses

Transcription

1 Why we have a procedure? Standard Operating Procedure 1 (SOP 1) Revalidation for Nurses An outcome of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry chaired by Robert Francis QC (2013) was NMC commitment to implementing an effective system of revalidation of nurses and midwives to improve public protection. The NMC state that revalidation contributes to their core regulatory purpose, aiming to deliver a proportionate, risk-based and affordable system that will provide greater public confidence in professionals regulated by the NMC that are required to remain fit for practice throughout their careers. The purpose of this procedure is to ensure there are appropriate arrangements in place to enable registered nurses within the Trust to meet the Nursing and Midwifery Council s Revalidation expectations. From October2015, all nurses and midwives who are due to renew their NMC registration will be required to do so using the new proposed revalidation process. Nurses who do not meet the requirements for revalidation will no longer be registered and therefore unable to practice. Nurse revalidation is linked to the revised NMC Code, which sets out the professional standards of practice and behaviour for nurses and midwives. It will allow nurses and midwives to demonstrate that they practice safely and effectively, strengthening public confidence in the nursing and midwifery profession. Revalidation is about promoting good practice across the whole population of nurses and midwives. It s not an assessment of a nurse or midwife s fitness to practice. What overarching policy the procedure links to? Professional Registration Policy Which services of the trust does this apply to? Where is it in operation? Group Inpatients Community Locations Mental Health Services all Learning Disabilities Services all Children and Young People Services all Corporate Services all Who does the procedure apply to? All registered Nurses including Bank, Agency and Locum Nurses When should the procedure be applied? When registered nurses are required to revalidate Version 1.0 November 2015 Page 1 of 17 Revalidation for Nurses

2 How to carry out this procedure What is Revalidation? Every three years, at the point of their renewal of registration, nurses will need to show that, as a professional, they are living by the Code s standards of practice and behaviour Participation is an on-going basis rather than a point in time assessment Nurses will need to meet a range of requirements, designed to show that they are keeping up to date and actively maintaining their fitness to practice Revalidation is about promoting good practice across the whole population of nurses, it is not an assessment of a nurse s fitness to practice Application Process NMC will notify you at least 60 days before your application is due, either by if you have set up an NMC Online account, or by letter sent to your registered address Once you receive your notification you will need to go online and complete the application form Your revalidation application date will be the first day of the month in which your registration expires Your renewal date will be the last day of the month in which your registration expires Requirements for Nurses Register at NMC online where you can find out your renewal date Read the new Code and practice according to its principles: Ensure you are up to date on revalidation developments and tools by checking the website: All staff due to revalidate during 2016 will receive a letter from the Trust Start to develop a portfolio using the guidance below Every three years you will be asked to apply for revalidation using NMC online. In the three years preceding the date of your application for renewal of your registration, you need to meet a range of revalidation requirements designed to show that you are keeping up to date and actively maintaining your fitness to practice. From April 2016 onwards: Version 1.0 November 2015 Page 2 of 17 Revalidation for Nurses

3 Practice Hours You must practice a minimum number of hours over the three years preceding the date of your application for renewal of your registration. If you have practiced for less than the required number of hours in the three years preceding 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 before the date of your application for renewal of registration. If you are practising as a midwife in the UK, you must file an intention to practice form annually with your Local Supervising Authority Midwifery Officer. If you are a registered midwife only practising in a specialist community public health nursing role and are registered on the SCPHN part of the register, then you do not need to file an intention to practice form. However, you must successfully complete an appropriate return to midwifery practice programme approved by the NMC before you can serve an intention to practice form and return to practice as a practising midwife. Practice Hours Record Log To confirm your hours of practice as a registered nurse you must fill in the Practice Hours Log Template (Appendix 1). You must fill in a page for each of your periods of practice. Enter your most recent practice first. You may need to print additional pages to add more periods of practice until you reach 450 hours. If you are both a nurse and a midwife you will need to provide information to cover 450 hours of practice for each of these registrations. Version 1.0 November 2015 Page 3 of 17 Revalidation for Nurses

4 What to include: Dates of practice; Number of hours you undertook; Name, address and postcode of the organisation; Scope of practice; Work setting; A description of the work you undertook, and Evidence of those practice hours (such as timesheets, role profiles or job specifications). Continuing Professional Development You must undertake 35hours of continuing professional development (CPD) relevant to your scope of practice as a nurse, over the three years prior to the renewal of your registration. Of those 35 hours of CPD, 20 must include participatory learning. You must maintain accurate records of the CPD you have undertaken and demonstrate how you have used it to improve your practice in your written reflections. These records must contain: The CPD method (Examples of CPD method are self-learning, online learning, course) A brief description of the topic and how it relates to your practice Dates the CPD activity was undertaken The number of hours and participatory hours Identification of the part of the Code most relevant to the CPD, and Evidence of the CPD activity Participatory learning includes any learning activity which involves interacting with other people such as: Study day Conference or workshop Peer review Coaching and mentoring Participation in clinical audit, practice visit or group meeting Individual learning includes learning activity done without interacting with other people, such as: Mandated training specifically relevant to role/scope of practice Reading and reviewing publications Enquiry based research Accredited higher education or training To record this information please use Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Log Template (Appendix 2). Practice Related Feedback You must record five pieces of practice-related feedback. Notes should detail the content of the feedback and how you used it to improve your practice. This will be helpful for you to use when you are preparing your reflective accounts. Make sure your notes do not include any personal data. Version 1.0 November 2015 Page 4 of 17 Revalidation for Nurses

5 Practice related 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 events reviews. You can choose for your feedback to be informal or formal, written or verbal. It could be on an individual, team or organisational level. Written Reflective Accounts Five written reflective accounts must also be recorded that explain what you learnt from your CPD activity and/or feedback and/or an event or experience in your practice, how you changed or improved your work as a result, and how this is relevant to the Code. Use the Reflective Accounts Form (Appendix 3) to complete each reflection and make sure your accounts do not include any personal data. Your written reflections should consider the following: Why did you undertake that activity? What have you learnt from the CPD activity or feedback? How have you changed or improved your work as a result? How is it relevant to the Code? Have you identified any gaps in knowledge/future training requirements? How do you plan to address these? Reflective Discussion You must have a professional development discussion with another NMC registrant, covering your reflections on the Code, your CPD, and practice-related feedback. You must ensure that the NMC registrant with whom you had your professional development discussion signs a Reflective Discussion Form (Appendix 4) recording the name and NMC Pin as well as the date you had the discussion. This must be stored as a paper copy only. Health and Character You must provide a health and character declaration to declare if you have been convicted of any criminal offence or issued with a formal caution over the three years prior to the renewal of your registration. This should happen immediately not just at the point of renewal. You should 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. You will make these declarations as part of your online revalidation application. Professional Indemnity Arrangement By law, nurses and midwives must have in place an appropriate indemnity arrangement in order to practice and provide care. The purpose of this requirement is to make sure that where patients have suffered harm through the negligent action of a nurse or midwife, they will be able to recover any compensation to which they are entitled following a successful claim. You should provide evidence to demonstrate that you have an appropriate indemnity arrangement in place. You must inform the NMC whether this arrangement is through your employer, membership with a professional body or through a private insurance Version 1.0 November 2015 Page 5 of 17 Revalidation for Nurses

6 arrangement. If your indemnity arrangement is provided through membership of a professional body or a private insurance arrangement, you will need to record the name of the professional body or provider. You will be required to complete a declaration at the following points, as appropriate: When you apply for registration with the NMC for the first time Each time you renew your registration If your registration has lapsed and you want to apply for readmission to the register If you are applying for restoration to the register after having been struck-off for fitness to practice reasons Confirmation from a Third Party Once you have met the requirements, you will need to discuss your revalidation with a confirmer. As part of this confirmation discussion, you will demonstrate that you have complied with all of the revalidation requirements, except professional indemnity arrangement and health and character. You will be asked for this information for the purpose of verifying the declarations you have made in your application. This can form part of your annual appraisal. An appropriate third party confirmer is your line manager. You should obtain confirmation from this person wherever possible. If you do not have a line manager, it is recommended that a third party is an NMC registered nurse/midwife. If that is not possible you can seek confirmation from other healthcare professionals that you work with who are regulated in the UK. Ensure the Confirmation Form is completed (Appendix 5).You are required to provide the name, NMC Pin or other professional identification number (where relevant), , professional address and postcode of the appropriate third party. It is recommended that you keep the completed and signed form in your portfolio, this must be stored as a paper copy only. Keeping a Portfolio It is strongly recommended that you keep evidence that you have met these requirements in a portfolio. You may find it helpful to structure your portfolio according to the themes in the Code. This should be a working document which is constantly evolving and dynamic. This will be helpful to provide structure for the discussion you have with your third party confirmer. You will also need to have this information available in case the NMC request to see it to verify the declarations you made as part of your application. If you already keep a professional portfolio you do not need to maintain a separate portfolio. You will need to update it in line with the revalidation requirements. It is recommended that you keep your portfolio until after your next revalidation. Submitting your Portfolio to the NMC You are not required to submit your entire portfolio unless you are selected to do so by the NMC. It is however strongly advised that you keep this up to- date throughout your three year cycle. Version 1.0 November 2015 Page 6 of 17 Revalidation for Nurses

7 Each year the NMC will select a sample of nurses and midwives to provide further information to verify the declarations that are made as part of revalidation. Such a request does not necessarily mean that there are any concerns about your application, and you can continue to practice while the information is reviewed. If you have been selected for further information, the NMC will contact you by within 24 hours of you submitting your revalidation application so it is important that you check your during this time. If you are selected to provide information you will need to complete a form and upload a range of evidence to NMC online within 14 days. As part of this process the NMC will contact your confirmer to verify that they provided your confirmation. Nurses and midwifes who fail to comply with the revalidation requirements will be removed from the register and they will need to re-apply for re-admission if they want to remain on the register; this process could take up to 2-6 weeks. Extension for Renewing your Registration NMC will not usually consider any requests for extensions to submit a revalidation application. The requirements should be met within the three years prior to the renewal of your registration. However, if you believe that you have exceptional circumstances, please contact the NMC to discuss your situation. You will need to contact the NMC as far in advance of your renewal date as possible. They are only able to grant an extension prior to the date your registration is due to lapse. Please note that NMC cannot extend any application beyond three months. Revalidation and NMC Fitness to Practice Processes Revalidation does not create a new way to raise fitness to practice concerns. Any concerns about your practice will continue to be raised through the existing fitness to practice process. If you are subject to an NMC investigation, condition(s) of practice order or a caution, you will be able to apply to renew your registration as long as you fulfil all the requirements for renewal. However, you will remain subject to NMC fitness to practice processes and the outcome of those processes. If you have been struck-off or suspended from the register, you are not able to renew your registration because you are no longer on the register. If your renewal is due while you are subject to suspension from the register, when your suspension is lifted you will have three months to apply for and obtain renewal. If you fail to do this, you will have to apply for re-admission. Cancelling your Registration You may not want to retain one or all your registrations. Depending on when you choose to cancel your registration, the process to be followed will be slightly different. If you wish to cancel at the time of your revalidation application, you can do this online through the online revalidation application. You will be asked to provide a range of information such as your NMC Pin, full name, contact address, the reason for cancelling and a declaration stating that you are not aware of any matter which could give rise or has given rise to a fitness to practice allegation being made against Version 1.0 November 2015 Page 7 of 17 Revalidation for Nurses

8 you. You will not have to maintain a revalidation portfolio and there will be no additional form to submit to the NMC. If you want to cancel your registration when you are not due for revalidation, you must submit an application to lapse your registration form and provide a range of information such as your NMC Pin, full name, contact address, the reason for cancelling and a declaration stating that you are not aware of any matter which could give rise or has given rise to a fitness to practice allegation being made against you. You will not be able to practice as a registered nurse or midwife in the UK if you cancel your registration with the NMC. If you chose to cancel your registration, and later wish to resume practising as a nurse/midwife in the UK, please refer to NMC guidance on readmission to the register. Version 1.0 November 2015 Page 8 of 17 Revalidation for Nurses

9 Appendix 1 Practice Hours Log Template Guide to completing practice hours log To record your hours of practice as a registered nurse and/or midwife, please fill in a page for each of your periods of practice. Please enter your most recent practice first and then any other practice until you reach 450 hours. You do not necessarily need to record individual practice hours. You can describe your practice hours in terms of standard working days or weeks. For example if you work full time, please just make one entry of hours. If you have worked in a range of settings please set these out individually. You may need to print additional pages to add more periods of practice. If you are both a nurse and midwife you will need to provide information to cover 450 hours of practice for each of these registrations. Work settings Select appropriate setting: Ambulance service Care home sector Care inspectorate Cosmetic/aesthetic sector District nursing Education Governing body or leadership role GP practice or other primary care Health visiting Hospital or other secondary care Insurance/legal Military Occupational health Other community services Overseas Policy Prison Private domestic setting Private health care Public health Research School Specialist (tertiary) care Telephone or e-health advice Trade union or professional body Voluntary sector Other Your scope of practice: Commissioning Consultancy Education Management Policy Direct patient care Quality assurance or inspection Registration: Nurse Midwife Nurse/SCPHN Midwife/SCPHN Dates: Name and address of organisation: Your work setting (choose from list above): Your scope of practice (choose from list above): Number of hours: Your registration (choose from list above): Brief description of your work: (Please add rows as necessary) Version 1.0 November 2015 Page 9 of 17 Revalidation for Nurses

10 Appendix 2 - Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Log Template Please provide the following information for each learning activity, until you reach 35 hours of CPD (of which 20 hours must be participatory). For examples of the types of CPD activities you could undertake, and the types of evidence you could retain, please refer to Guidance sheet 3 in How to revalidate with the NMC. Guide to completing CPD record log Examples of learning method Online learning Course attendance Independent learning What was the topic? Please give a brief outline of the key points of the learning activity, how it is linked to your scope of practice, what you learnt, and how you have applied what you learnt to your practice. Link to Code Please identify the part or parts of the Code relevant to the CPD. Prioritise people Practise effectively Preserve safety Promote professionalism and trust Dates: Method Please describe the methods you used for the activity: Topic(s): Link to Code: Number of hours: Number of participatory hours: Total: Total: (Please add rows as necessary) Version 1.0 November 2015 Page 10 of 17 Revalidation for Nurses

11 Appendix 3 - Reflective Accounts Form Version 1.0 November 2015 Page 11 of 17 Revalidation for Nurses

12 Appendix 4 Reflective Discussion Form Version 1.0 November 2015 Page 12 of 17 Revalidation for Nurses

13 Appendix 5 - Confirmation Form Version 1.0 November 2015 Page 13 of 17 Revalidation for Nurses

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16 Where do I go for further advice or information? Head Nurses Matrons Human Resources Visit the NMC Revalidation website: Information for Confirmers : Employers Guide: Training Staff may receive training in relation to this procedure, where it is identified in their appraisal as part of the specific development need. Please refer to the Trust s Mandatory & Risk Management Training Needs Analysis for further details on training requirements, target audiences and update frequencies Monitoring / Review of this Procedure In the event of planned change in the process(es) described within this document or an incident involving the described process(es) within the review cycle, this SOP will be reviewed and revised as necessary to maintain its accuracy and effectiveness. Equality Impact Assessment Please refer to overarching policy Data Protection Act and Freedom of Information Act Please refer to overarching policy Version 1.0 November 2015 Page 16 of 17 Revalidation for Nurses

17 Standard Operating Procedure Details Unique Identifier for this SOP is BCPFT-HR-SOP-04-1 State if SOP is New or Revised Executive Director whose portfolio this SOP comes under Policy Lead/Author Job titles only Committee/Group Responsible for Approval of this SOP Month/year consultation process completed New Executive Director of Nursing, AHPs and Governance Head of Employment Services Workforce Development Group October 2015 Month/year SOP was approved November 2015 Next review due November 2018 Disclosure Status Key words relating to this SOP B can be disclosed to patients and the public Professional registration, NMC, The Code, Practice hours log, Continuing professional development log, Professional development discussion form, Practice-related feedback, Reflection and discussion, Reflective account record log, Health and character, Professional indemnity arrangement, Confirmation from a third party form, Submitting portfolio to NMC, Extension for renewing your registration, Cancelling registration Review and Amendment History Version Date Description of Change V1.0 Nov 2015 New Procedure established to supplement Professional Registration Policy in line with new revalidation requirements from NMC Version 1.0 November 2015 Page 17 of 17 Revalidation for Nurses