Continuing professional development for registered nurses: an overview

Introduction

In the UK, all registered nurses practicing in clinical practice, education, research or management are required to undertake regular continuing professional development – also known as CPD – as this is central to the delivery of high quality, safe, effective and person-centred care. Actively engaging in continuing professional development can positively impact a nurse’s career progression and earning potential.

What is continuing professional development?

While there no single definition of continuing professional development, it is commonly described as a form of lifelong learning and professional skills development. In the context of direct patient care, its purpose is to help nurses maintain an updated skillset to ensure that they are able to care for patients safely and competently (Royal College of Nursing (RCN), 2016). Wray and Aleo (2021) defined continuing professional development as:

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN, 2019) classified three types of continuing professional development:

1. Statutory – comply with legislation (eg manual and handling training)
2. Mandatory training – training that is considered essential by the employer or Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
3. Developmental – formal or informal learning that is specific to the professional role and/or career progression

Mandatory training requires commitments for funding and protected employment time from UK governments (RCN, 2019).

What are the requirements for continuing professional development?

Continuing professional development is a mandatory component of the NMC’s (2021) revalidation process, which occurs once every 3 years. Nurses should review the below NMC documents related to the requirements of and other information regarding continuing professional development:

• The NMC's Code (2018a) is central to the revalidation process, including consideration of continuing professional development, and emphasises the four standards of conduct that nurses must demonstrate:
  1. prioritise people
  2. practise effectively
  3. preserve safety
  4. promote professionalism and trust
• The standards of proficiency for registered nurses outline seven pillars and annexe A and B proficiencies that nurses must demonstrate in their practice (NMC, 2018b)

The registered nurse must have undertaken 35 hours of continuing professional development relevant to their scope of practice in the 3 years since their registration was last renewed or since joining the NMC register (NMC, 2021). Of those 35 hours, 20 must include participatory learning.

Examples of participatory learning include:

• structured learning (direct or distance learning style)
• accredited college or university-level education or training
• mandatory training specifically relevant to the role or scope of practice
• learning events, such as workshops or conferences
• participation in clinical audits

Examples of individual (non-participatory) learning include:

• reading and reviewing publications
• mandatory training
• enquiry based research

The registrant must also retain the evidence of their continuing professional development activities to show their confirmer when undergoing revalidation. The confirmer is the person who reviews the evidence collected by the registrant and ‘confirms’ that the registered nurse has met the NMC revalidation requirements.

How to record continuing professional development

The NMC continuing professional development log entry template can be used to record the 35 hours of learning. Each activity of learning should include:

• The date
• Learning method – eg online, course attendance or independent study
• Topic – outlining the key points of the learning activity, what was learned and how this could be applied in practice
• A link to the sections outlined in the NMC Code (2018a):
  • prioritise people
  • practise effectively
  • preserve safety
  • promote professionalism and trust
• A link to the NMC standards of proficiency (NMC, 2018b)

Alternatively, various online learning platforms, such as BJN Inform, can also be used to take part in and record continuing professional development activities simultaneously.

Learn how to log your continuing professional development on BJN inform:

The registrant is required to provide the information for each learning activity, until they have a record of 35 hours of continuing professional development (NMC, 2021).

What are the challenges of taking part in continuing professional development?

A report by the RCN (2019) stated that access to continuing professional development is fundamental to nurses, given the ongoing challenges of nursing staff shortages, budget cuts and meeting the ever-changing health and social care needs of a diverse population.

A recent and pertinent challenge echoed by nurses across the UK was voiced through strike action calling for improvements in pay, working conditions and ultimately patient care and safety. These challenges may indicate that professional development is not high enough on the workplace agenda, given that there is currently a lack of incentives and workplace conditions to encourage this.

The RCN also reported difficulties among nurses in accessing and completing continuing professional development, even if sufficient funding was available, given the current pressures on the workforce (Bungeroth et al, 2018). Inequality and a lack of accessibility was identified for nurses working in the independent sector and care homes. These nurses are more likely than other staff to complete the training in their personal time rather than during paid working hours.

Future actions for continuing professional development

An employment survey by the RCN (2018) showed that 58% of respondents suggested a lack of continuing professional development was a causative factor in nurses being unable to progress in their careers. Furthermore, the RCN’s (2019) ‘call to action’ across the UK proposed that investment must be made in continuing professional development, alongside pay and career development opportunities, for any meaningful progress to be made in recruiting and retaining the nursing workforce. While all registered nurses across the UK must ultimately take ownership of their continuing professional development, they must be enabled to do so by their employer in order to meet the NMC revalidation requirements to remain a part of the workforce.