Are midwives ready for revalidation?

From April 2016 the only way midwives and nurses will be able to renew their registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) will be through a process called revalidation, the purpose of which is to improve public protection by making sure that midwives and nurses continue to remain 'fit to practise' throughout their career.¹

Revalidation is built on existing arrangements and adds requirements that encourage registrants to seek feedback from patients (for midwives this will mean women and their families) and colleagues, reflect on the Code² by having a professional discussion with another registrant and, importantly, seek confirmation that they have met those requirements from a third party. Nurses and midwives will need to use their judgement to choose who should provide confirmation. The NMC recommends that it is provided by their line manager and that the line manager does not need to be an NMC registered nurse or midwife. If the line manager is not an NMC registrant then the reflective professional discussion with another NMC registered nurse or midwife must happen first.