Understanding how to support patients’ fundamental care needs and the effective management of risk will help you improve patients’ outcomes and quality of life

When the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) introduced its new standards of proficiency for registered nurses in May 2018 , it set out the procedures newly registered nurses must be able safely to demonstrate at point of registration.

These include undertaking venepuncture and cannulation and blood sampling, carrying out and interpreting electrocardiograms (ECGs), and undertaking chest auscultation and interpreting the findings.

Advanced competencies and the fundamentals

I was a student at Dundee University in Scotland when the standards were introduced, and there was great excitement in my peer group that we