Band 5 and 6 nurses more likely to be unaware of revalidation, research shows
Junior nurses who took part in revalidation pilots were more likely to say they did not know about the process compared with senior nurses, research has shown.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) will make a decision next week on how to proceed with revalidation, the new system under which nurses and midwives will renew their registration with the regulator every three years.
The NMC’s council is considering a report by Ipsos MORI on the experience of registrants during revalidation pilots.
It says that 15% of nurses at band 5 (and even more senior nurses at band 6) said they knew nothing about revalidation before taking part in the pilots, compared with only 4% and 3% for bands 7 and 8 respectively.
Overall, nine in ten participants said they had heard about revalidation prior to the pilots and 30% knew a great deal or a fair amount.
Unite professional officer for regulation (health sector) Jane Beach said not all registrants have time to look on the NMC website to learn about revalidation.
The union surveyed its nurse members about revalidation.
She said: ‘There isn’t going to be much time once its approved before people have to start using it.’
She added: ‘On the positive side nurses did appreciate the reflective discussion part of revalidation as not everyone received clinical supervision in their jobs and this gives them a chance to assess their own performance.’
At a meeting last month, the programme boards for revalidation in each of the four UK countries said they were ready for revalidation to be introduced this month.
NMC council members were recommended to approve the introduction of revalidation in the papers for their meeting on October 8.
If introduced, nurses and midwives will undertake revalidation from next April.
A NMC spokesperson said: 'The NMC is committed to ensuring that every nurse and midwife knows about revalidation and what will be required of them.'
The spokesperson said the figure of 15% of junior nurses not knowing about revalidation related 'to the very early days of the pilot in January 2015' and added: 'Since then, we have made a substantial effort to improve communication with participants.'