NMC issues 60-day alert to registrants ahead of revalidation

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has sent email prompts to the first cohort of registrants to go through revalidation to let them know they have 60 days until they are due to renew.

Revalidation, the new system for nurses and midwives to renew their registration with the NMC every three years, was approved by the NMC’s council last year and comes into force in the UK on April 1.

The first cohort of registrants to go through the process have been sent email reminders, which also advise them to visit NMC Online for further information about the process. 

About 30,000 of the NMC's approximately 700,000 registrants will complete revalidation in the first three months, according to an NMC presentation to a meeting of the NHS Trust Development Authority (TDA). 

Replacing the post-registration education and practice system, revalidation requires nurses to provide evidence every three years of 450 practice hours, 35 hours of continuing professional development, practice-related feedback, written reflective accounts, and a reflective discussion with an approved confirmer.

Minutes from the TDA meeting in November, published last week, also reveal that some older nurses may not choose to revalidate because they deem the process too complicated.

After concluding that the process is not 'worth the hassle' and too reliant on information technology, these nurses indicated that they would instead seek early retirement.

The TDA board acknowledged the risks of too many nurses retiring early and pledged to work with the NMC to mitigate them.

The RCN has today issued ten guidelines to help members prepare for revalidation.

The top suggestion is to create a free account on NMC Online to inform you when your renewal date is and alert you up to 60 days beforehand.

The RCN also advises seeking support from colleagues and collecting evidence as early as possible, as well as finding appropriate confirmers.

Many trusts and health boards have today used social media to declare themselves ready for revalidation, and to offer support and guidance to their nurses who are going through the process first.

NHS Grampian associate director of nursing June Brown reassured nervous nurses by calling the process ‘straightforward’, but added that the burden of responsibility ‘is that of the individual’ and that everyone should do all they can to be ready.

See the RCN advice here