Module 1 of 3 · 40 minutes
What revalidation actually requires
By the end of this module you will be able to
- List all eight revalidation requirements accurately
- Distinguish participatory from non participatory CPD and count hours correctly
- Plan a three year cycle rather than a three week panic
- Explain what happens if you cannot meet a requirement in time
Work through it
1 interactive for this module, built on the WAJD Teach engine. Nothing moves until you ask it to, and every one has a written version if you would rather read it.
Amara Nadia, revalidation. Every nurse I know finds this stressful and most of them leave it far too late. Why?
Nadia Because it looks like an exam and it is not one. It is a structured demonstration that you have kept practising, kept learning, and kept reflecting, with someone confirming it. Nobody is marking your nursing.
Amara Then let us make it concrete. What are the requirements?
Nadia Eight of them, across three years. Four hundred and fifty practice hours, or nine hundred if you are renewing as both nurse and midwife. Thirty five hours of CPD, of which at least twenty must be participatory. Five pieces of practice related feedback. Five written reflective accounts. A reflective discussion with another registrant. A health and character declaration. Professional indemnity arrangement. And confirmation.
Amara Let us take the one that confuses everybody. Participatory. What does it actually mean?
Nadia Interaction with one or more other professionals. That is the whole test. Not format, not quality, not how hard it was. Did you interact with another professional.
Amara Examples?
Nadia Participatory: a study day where you took part, clinical supervision, a journal club, team teaching, an action learning set, simulation, peer review, an appraisal that included learning. Non participatory: an online module you did alone at midnight, a journal article you read, a recorded lecture you watched.
Amara Right. Then I have to ask you the awkward question, because people are listening to this course right now. What is this?
Nadia This is non participatory, and I am glad you asked it out loud.
Amara You are not going to dress that up?
Nadia No. Doing this module on your own is non participatory CPD, and anyone selling you participatory hours for a solitary online course is misrepresenting the NMC requirement. Full stop.
Amara So how do people build their twenty participatory hours?
Nadia Very often by taking what they learned somewhere and discussing it. You do this module, then you raise the IDDSI point at your team meeting, or you take it to supervision, or your journal club looks at the guideline. That discussion is participatory, and it is entirely legitimate, as long as it genuinely happened and you record it honestly.
Amara What do I actually have to write down?
Nadia The method, a description, the topic, the number of hours and how many were participatory, the dates, the link to the Code, and your evidence. A certificate, or notes.
Amara And what must I never write down?
Nadia Anything that identifies a patient. This is the commonest serious error in revalidation portfolios, and it is a data protection breach as well as a professional one.
Amara People think removing the name is enough.
Nadia It is not, and this is worth spelling out. Initials identify. Date of birth identifies. Hospital number obviously identifies. Ward name plus date of admission identifies. And a rare diagnosis in a small community identifies somebody completely, with no name anywhere on the page.
Amara So how do I write a reflection about a real event?
Nadia Write about your practice, not their story. A patient in their eighties following elective surgery. That is enough context for a reflection about what you did and what you changed. Nobody reading it needs to be able to find that person, and if they can, you have written it wrongly.
Amara Timing. When does the window open?
Nadia Sixty days before your renewal date. The NMC should tell you, and your date is on MyNMC, which replaced the old NMC Online portal. But the responsibility to know your own date is yours.
Amara And the nightmare scenario. It is eight weeks out and I am fifteen hours short.
Nadia Then act now rather than in week eleven. Ask for an employer supported study day. Book clinical supervision. Start a journal club, which honestly takes one email and a room.
Amara And if I truly cannot get there?
Nadia Contact the NMC before your renewal date. Extensions exist for exceptional circumstances, and they are far easier to discuss before the date than after it. What you must not do is let it lapse quietly, because once your registration lapses you cannot practise, and continuing to practise is a criminal offence as well as a disciplinary matter.
The written material
The eight requirements
Revalidation is not an examination and it is not a test of competence. It is a structured demonstration that you have kept practising, kept learning, and kept reflecting, with someone confirming that you have done so.
The requirements are fixed across a three year cycle and there are eight of them.
- 450 practice hours, or 900 if you are renewing as both a nurse and a midwife
- 35 hours of continuing professional development, of which at least 20 must be participatory
- Five pieces of practice related feedback
- Five written reflective accounts
- A reflective discussion with another NMC registrant
- A health and character declaration
- Professional indemnity arrangement
- Confirmation from an appropriate confirmer
Participatory and non participatory CPD
Of the 35 CPD hours, at least 20 must be participatory, meaning learning that involved interaction with one or more other professionals. The distinction is about interaction, not about format or quality.
Participatory includes attending a study day or conference where you took part, clinical supervision, a journal club, structured team teaching, action learning sets, simulation, a peer review discussion, and a formal appraisal that included learning. Non participatory includes an online module completed alone, reading a journal article, and watching a recorded lecture.
An honest note about this course: the modules you complete here on your own are non participatory. If you then take what you learned to a team meeting, a supervision session or a journal club and discuss it, that discussion is participatory. Many registrants build their participatory hours precisely that way, and it is legitimate as long as it genuinely happened.
Evidence you must keep, and what you must not
You must record: the CPD method, a description, the topic, the number of hours and participatory hours, the dates, the link to the Code, and evidence such as a certificate or notes.
You must not record anything that identifies a patient or service user. This is the most common serious error in revalidation portfolios, and it is a data protection breach as well as a professional one. Names, initials, dates of birth, hospital numbers, ward names, dates of admission, and rare diagnoses in small communities can all identify someone.
The NMC do not routinely ask to see your portfolio, but you may be selected for verification, and your confirmer will look at it. Keep it as though it will be read, because sometimes it is.
Timing, and what to do if you are short
Your revalidation application window opens 60 days before your renewal date. You should be told by the NMC, but the responsibility to know your date is yours and it sits on MyNMC, the online portal.
If you are going to be short of hours, do not wait until the window opens. Options include an employer supported study day, clinical supervision sessions, a journal club, or an extension in exceptional circumstances. If you genuinely cannot meet the requirements you may be able to apply for an extension, but you must contact the NMC before your renewal date rather than after it.
Knowledge check
The knowledge check and your certificate need a free account, so that your progress and results can be saved as evidence.
The learning itself stays free and open. You are reading all of it right now without an account.