Helping hand

The revalidation process is straightforward and beneficial to nurses as it enables them to demonstrate safe and effective working practices. Our specialist Revalidation Team at Presto Nursing is on hand to support our nurses and midwives through this process, where we are their main employer.

Our supportive process encourages nurses and midwives to remain up to date in their professional practice, and to drive a culture of sharing, reflection and continuous improvement.

The NMC require nurses and midwives to complete the revalidation process every three years, whether working in the NHS, private sector or as a full-time agency worker.

Criteria

The following criteria must be completed by anyone wishing to successfully revalidate and renew their NMC registration:

  • 450 practice hours, or 900 if renewing as both a nurse and midwife
  • Professional indemnity arrangement
  • Health & character declaration
  • Five written reflective accounts
  • 35 hours of CPD including 20 hours of participatory learning
  • Five pieces of practice-related feedback
  • Reflective discussion

Please note that your revalidation application deadline is the first day of the month that your registration expires. For example, if your registration expires on 30th May 2017, your revalidation application and fees, must be submitted to the NMC by 1st May 2017.

Supporting you throughout the course revalidation process

Whilst revalidation is the responsibility of the healthcare professional, Presto Nursing are here to support you.

The process of revalidation is the NMC’s robust answer to helping nurses and midwives demonstrate their continued adherence to the Code’s standards of practice and behaviour, and so safeguarding the public. Effective from April 2016, revalidation will occur in 3-year cycles and without successful revalidation you will not be able to practice as a nurse.

Having a clear understanding of what will be required of you during the revalidation process, and when it will be required, is therefore extremely important. With this in mind, we will be supporting our agency nurses with the revalidation process to ensure that it is as clear and straightforward as possible. Use the links below to find the information you need for a stress-free revalidation process.

What is Nurse Revalidation? 

Revalidation is a new process implemented by Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) to strengthen and improve public protection. Revalidation also helps to support, and at the same time empower, our nurses to take responsibility for their continued professional development and fitness to practice, throughout their career. ‘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.’

The new requirements will encourage nurses to keep up to date with CPD, to engage with other nurses in professional discussions and also encourage reflection on the New Code. The requirements for nurse revalidation are:

  • 450 practice hours or 900 if revalidating as both a nurse and midwife
  • 35 hours CPD including 20 hours participatory learning
  • Five pieces of practice related feedback.
  • Five written reflective accounts
  • Reflective discussion
  • Health and character declaration
  • Professional indemnity arrangements
  • Confirmation

The NMC recommends that you keep a record of the above by creating your own portfolio. You can download the templates provided by the NMC to record your Practice hours, CPD, Feedback, Reflective accounts and Confirmation here.

How do I prepare? 

Do you know your revalidation renewal date?

Do you know who your confirmer is?

What are the requirements?

Presto Nursing will support you through the revalidation process by providing you with the latest updates and information. If you do not know your NMC renewal date this will be the first thing you will need to find out. Your renewal date will be your revalidation date and can be found out via your online NMC account. You will need to submit your application 60 days before this date.

Once you have your renewal date you can then start working towards meeting all of the requirements of a successful revalidation. You will have three years prior to your renewal date to do so. To find out the other requirements for nurse revalidation please take a look at our Revalidation Guide.

Once you have obtained all of the requirements for your revalidation, including your confirmation, you will need to submit your application to the NMC. This should be a minimum of 30 days before your renewal date, in order to give the NMC a chance to review your application and, in an unlikely situation, come back to you should they require any further information.

Revalidation FAQS 

Now that’s complete, how do I submit for revalidation?  

60 days prior to your revalidation date your NMC will notify you that you are due to submit for nurse revalidation. You will be able to submit by logging into your NMC online account.

Whilst you are submitting for your revalidation you will also need to pay your renewal fee as normal, in order to continue to practice. If your renewal lapses due to non-payment you will be removed from the register and will be required to re-admit to the register, which can take up to 2-6 weeks.

If you do not have an NMC account, please make it a priority to sign up today.

More information about the registration process can be found here.

How do I find my revalidation date?

You will need access to your online NMC account to find your NMC Renewal date, which will also be your revalidation date. If you have not already created an account please do so as a priority here.

How do I record my information and documents?

The NMC have recommended keeping either an e-portfolio or a paper portfolio holding all of your evidence. You can record your evidence using the templates provided by the NMC.

I don’t have anybody to do my confirmation or reflective discussion, what do I do?

Presto Nursing are offering both services, Presto Nursing can arrange for you to speak with one of our senior nurses who will take you through each requirement. If you require this service please get in touch with the revalidation team. The team will aim to respond to your enquire within 72 hours.

Revalidation Guide 

1. 450 Practice Hours – (900 Hours for midwives)

You will be required to show evidence of 450 practice hours (900 hours for midwives), which reflect your scope of practice. This can be documented using the template provided by the NMC. The links for all of the templates can also be found on the Revalidation FAQs page If you should be asked to provide further information to verify your declaration within your application, you will be asked to provide the below details.

Dates of practice
The number of hours worked
Setting in which you worked
Description of the work undertaken
Scope of practice
Evidence of your practice hours, such as timesheets and job specs.
The details of the organisations

If you do not meet the required 450 hours within the 3 years prior to your revalidation you will need to complete the relevant return to practice programme before you can renew your registration.

2. 35 CPD Hours (20 Participatory)

Continuing Professional Development

You will need to provide evidence that you have completed 35 CPD hours, with 20 of the hours being participatory learning. This can include: Conferences, webinars, online learning modules, reading, mentoring, etc. It can also include mandatory workplace training but only if the learning content is directly applicable to your area of practice. The NMC does not set any formal conditions on what does and does not constitute valid CPD. The only requirement is that any CPD undertaken produces learning outcomes that are relevant to your area of practice.

3. Five Pieces of Practice Related Feedback

You will need to be able to evidence five pieces of practice related feedback obtained over the three years prior to  your revalidation date. This feedback can be obtained from a variety of sources, from patients to colleagues, including your fellow nurses and healthcare professionals. The feedback can be presented in a formal or informal format and can be either positive or constructive. You will need to be able to make note of how this feedback impacted your performance. When recording your feedback you must ensure that you do not record any information that may identify an individual.

Please note – you will not have to provide copies of your related feedback when submitting your application to the NMC. However, you will need to tick a box detailing that your Confirmer was satisfied with your five pieces.

4. Five Written Reflective Accounts

You will need to be able to provide evidence of five written reflective accounts, written within the last three years  prior your revalidation date. Your reflective accounts can be of an event, CPD, feedback or an experience within your practice. You must be able to note down what you have learnt and how you changed or improved your practice as a result of this experience and how this is relevant to the code. Again, when recording your feedback you must ensure that you do not record any information that may identify an individual. Please note – You must use the mandatory form provided by the NMC to record your reflective accounts, which can be found here.

5. Health & Character Declarations

When submitting your application you will be asked to complete a Health and character declaration to satisfy the registrar that you are capable of safe and effective practice. ‘ Good health means that you must be capable of safe and effective practice without supervision. It does not mean the absence of any disability or health condition.’ – NMC In addition to this you will be required to inform the NMC if you have been cautioned, charged or found guilty of a criminal once.

6. Professional Indemnity Insurance

When submitting your revalidation application you will be required to declare that you are covered by the appropriate indemnity insurance. All practising NMC registrants must be covered with professional indemnity insurance by law. If you are not covered, you can be removed from the register. Find out more about professional indemnity insurance for NMC registrants here.

7. Reflective Discussion

You will be required to participate in at least one reflective discussion with a registered NMC professional, this can be a colleague or somebody within your professional network. Your reflective partner does not necessarily need to be registered on the same part of the NMC register. The reflective discussion is an opportunity to reflect on your five written reflective accounts and to discuss how these accounts relate to the NMC code. Your discussion must be completed within the 12 months leading up to your revalidation date. If you are unable to complete your discussion face-to-face then it can be done via video call. It can also be undertaken in-line with your confirmation, where appropriate. Please note – You must use the mandatory form provided by the NMC to record your reflective accounts. The NMC will require you to tick a box to confirm this was completed and you will need to provide your reflective partner ’s details when submitting for revalidation. However, your confirmer will need to see a copy of the completed form.

8. Confirmation

You will need to have your confirmation within the 12 months leading up to your revalidation application. Your confirmation can be completed by a non-NMC registrant. However, it is strongly recommended that the confirmer is either your line manager or somebody of a similar scope of practice to your self. Using the mandatory form provided by the NMC, the confirmer will go through the revalidation documents you have provided and will check that you are able to demonstrate that you have met the revalidation requirements. Your confirmation must be face-to-face and, if your confirmer is an NMC registrant, they will also be able to do this in-line with your reflective discussion.

How do I find out my NMC revalidation date?

To find out your revalidation renewal date simply visit the NMC website to register or log into your account where your revalidation renewal date will be displayed.