Maintenance And Renewal Of Registration As A Specialist Community Public Health Nurse, UK

Main Category: Nursing / Midwifery
Article Date: 07 Dec 2007 - 4:00 PDT

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Recent press coverage in Nursing Times alleged that the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) has allowed nurses and midwives who are only on the specialist community public health nurses' part of the register to go unregulated.

The NMC strongly refutes this inaccurate press coverage and wishes to make it very clear that no specialist community public health nurse on the NMC register is unregulated. This statement reassures specialist community public health nurses, patients and the public by clarifying the background and current situation regarding registration of specialist community public health nurses.

As set out in the Nursing & Midwifery Order (2001), the NMC regulates two professions; nursing and midwifery. It does this by maintaining a register, setting the standards for conduct, performance and ethics and considers allegations of misconduct, lack of competence or unfitness to practise due to ill health.

When the current register was established in 2004, the NMC used a permissive power contained within the Nursing & Midwifery Order (2001), to set up a part of register for specialist community public health nurses. This part of the register was established to recognise the contributions and skills of those working in public health nursing and to record their post-registration qualification.

There is no direct entry on to the specialist community public health nurses' part of the register and anyone on that part must already be registered as a nurse or midwife.

In December 2005, in response to a public consultation, the NMC's governing council decided that a specialist community public health nurse may renew their registration on the third part of the register, without renewing their original nursing or midwifery registration.

However, following discussions with the Department of Health regarding forthcoming changes to legislation, the NMC at it's council meeting today has now decided to review the original decision made in 2005 to allow a specialist community public health nurse to renew their registration on that part of the register without first renewing their nursing or midwifery registration.

The NMC's governing council today voted to reverse this decision to ensure consistency across the register and for specialist community public health nurses to maintain their link to knowledge and competencies gained via their initial nursing or midwifery registration.

For a specialist community public health nurse who is also registered as a nurse, they will now be required to undertake 450 hours of practice over three years.

For a specialist community public health nurse is who is also registered as a midwife, they will now be required to undertake 450 hours as a specialist community public health nurse and 450 hours of practise as a midwife.

In the immediate term, the NMC will contact all nurses and midwives due for renewal to inform them of the Council's decision. The NMC will reassure all specialist community public health nurses of the position and inform them of the process they will need to undertake to support the decision taken by Council. This will include identifying for those affected resources such as professional advisers or documentation that will assist them in completing this process. In addition, the NMC will continue to liaise with stakeholders, including higher education institutions about the Council's decision and the implications of this. The NMC has recognised this is part of the bigger picture of revalidation. The NMC's relevant committees will be looking at how revalidation can be fit for purpose and reflect changing roles in practise and modern regulation.

The move will strengthen the link between specialist community public health nursing and the competencies associated with the nurses' or midwives' initial registration and the NMC will guide and support every nurse and midwife who is affected by the decision.

The NMC will continue to work with the four UK health departments around this issue.

The Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) is the UK regulator for two professions, nursing and midwifery. The primary purpose of the NMC is protection of the public. It does this through maintaining a register of all nurses, midwives and specialist community public health nurses eligible to practise within the UK and by setting standards for their education, training and conduct. Currently the number of registrants exceeds 682,000. The Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001 (The Order), sets out the NMC's role and responsibilities.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council