At the time of going to press, the NMC Council will have just commenced a meeting at which they will discuss changes to nurse revalidation, and the options available. Any revalidation model will require a phased approach to implementation, due to the sheer scale of the task (there are approximately 670,000 on the NMC register). By the end of the meeting the NMC hopes to have secured agreement to their recommended model for phase one, and a steer towards the preferred option for phase two, which it will then investigate and work-up further.
From the NMCs point of view, an overhaul of the revalidation system is necessary to further strengthen public confidence in the profession and give nursing a rigorous educational base, but it will also have a bearing on its regulatory model. To address this, an updated Code and standards are planned for 2015.
The requirements for nurses to gain third party feedback that informs their reflection on their practise and which confirms their fitness to practise might add to the time pressures they already face and there are questions around the quality of the third party input. Organisations with a strong appraisal system will likely be able to incorporate feedback into this.
The NMC has already sought input from its key stakeholders in the nursing and midwifery professions. Once the revalidation process is approved to move to the next phase of development, a statutory consultation is scheduled to run between January and March 2014 - the first of three planned consultations - aimed primarily at nurses, midwives and the public.
What are your views on the NMCs revalidation proposals? Independent Nurse would love to hear them. Please do tell us at in@markallengroup.com