What is the Code?
The Code presents the professional standards of practice and behaviour that nurses, midwives and nursing associates must uphold in order to be registered to practise in the UK.
Nurses, midwives and nursing associates must act in line with the Code, whether they are providing direct care to individuals, groups or communities; or bringing their professional knowledge to bear on nursing and midwifery practice in other roles, such as leadership, education, or research.
Commitment to upholding these professional standards is fundamental to being a nurse, midwife or nursing associate, and this commitment is confirmed when they join our register and then renew their registration. We can take action if those on our register fail to uphold the Code. In serious cases, this can include removing them from the register.
A modernised Code will set clearer standards in areas where practice has changed over the past decade. This is likely to include areas such as equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), artificial intelligence, behaviour outside of professional practice and use of social media.
What is revalidation?
We ask all nurses, midwives and nursing associates to meet a set of requirements to help them continually develop and reflect on their practice. Every three years all the professionals on our register must demonstrate that they have met these requirements to maintain their registration with the NMC. This process is known as revalidation.
Revalidation helps to encourage a culture of sharing, reflection and improvement. It encourages professionals to reflect on the role of the Code in their practice and demonstrate that they’re 'living' the standards set out within it.
By promoting good practice, revalidation provides benefits for nurses, midwives and nursing associates as well as the people they care for.
We will review our revalidation requirements to ensure they continue to support professionals to develop their practice in line with our Code and standards. Our review will draw on our learning from nine years of the current revalidation model, from independent inquiries and from stakeholder feedback.
Previous
