NEWS
Pilot trust introduces new checks to prepare staff for revalidation @alistairbauer
NATHAN CLARKE
By Alistair Kleebauer
A London trust is asking its nurses to reflect on their practice and the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s new code for nurses and midwives as part of their annual appraisals to prepare them for revalidation. Under the new revalidation system, which is due to be introduced at the end of the year, nurses will have to meet the regulator’s proposed new requirements that will determine whether they can continue to practise or not every three years.
Dame Eileen Sills is getting her organisation ready for the changes now
Written reflections
They will have to produce at least five written reflections on the Code, their continuing professional development (CPD) and feedback on their practice. At Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, one of 19 pilot sites for revalidation, nurses are being asked to provide at least five reflective accounts for their annual appraisals, rather than waiting until revalidation is introduced. The trust has created a separate section on its appraisal form for nurses and midwives to include their accounts and to reflect on the four domains of the Code – prioritising people, practising effectively, preserving safety and promoting professionalism and trust.
Speaking at a Healthcare Conferences UK event on the NMC’s new code in London last week, the trust’s chief nurse Dame Eileen Sills said collecting evidence for revalidation annually will help nurses if they change job during the three-year cycle. Ms Sills said: ‘If they move on after two years and they are in another organisation, they have a record of the hours they have worked in the previous year, their CPD and their reflections.’ She told senior nurses at the conference that it is important to talk to colleagues about revalidation now and challenge negative comments about the process.
‘I felt like a broken record and I know how hard it is to get a message through to the front line of nurses,’ she added. Nurses will also have to collect feedback on their practice to inform their reflective accounts, but Ms Sills said this will not mean they have to go around asking ‘x number of patients’ for feedback. ‘You get feedback all the time and you have to get used to recording it,’ she said. ‘Nurses who have got some fantastic feedback from a patient or carer should take down a few notes about how it made them feel and how it reinforces their practice going forward.’
‘TALK TO NEW RECRUITS ABOUT THEIR USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA’ Senior nurses should be talking to newly qualified nurses about their social media profiles to ensure they are suitable for the workplace, says NHS England’s head of patient experience – maternity, newborn, children and young people. Kath Evans addressed senior nurses at a conference on the Nursing and
Midwifery Council’s new code in London last week about promoting professionalism on social media. Ms Evans posed the question: ‘Are you asking new recruits about whether their social media profile is suitable for someone going into the profession?’ to nurses attendees.
She added that nurses can ask themselves some important questions before posting on social media platforms, by using the acronym THINK (is it true, helpful, inspiring, necessary, kind?) The Code advises nurses to use social media responsibly and respect the privacy of others at all times.
NURSING mayNo 27other :: voluses 29without no 39 ::permission. 2015 9 DownloadedSTANDARD from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 14, 2015. For personal use only. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
Pilot trust introduces new checks to prepare staff for revalidation @alistairbauer
NATHAN CLARKE
By Alistair Kleebauer
A London trust is asking its nurses to reflect on their practice and the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s new code for nurses and midwives as part of their annual appraisals to prepare them for revalidation. Under the new revalidation system, which is due to be introduced at the end of the year, nurses will have to meet the regulator’s proposed new requirements that will determine whether they can continue to practise or not every three years.
Dame Eileen Sills is getting her organisation ready for the changes now
Written reflections
They will have to produce at least five written reflections on the Code, their continuing professional development (CPD) and feedback on their practice. At Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, one of 19 pilot sites for revalidation, nurses are being asked to provide at least five reflective accounts for their annual appraisals, rather than waiting until revalidation is introduced. The trust has created a separate section on its appraisal form for nurses and midwives to include their accounts and to reflect on the four domains of the Code – prioritising people, practising effectively, preserving safety and promoting professionalism and trust.
Speaking at a Healthcare Conferences UK event on the NMC’s new code in London last week, the trust’s chief nurse Dame Eileen Sills said collecting evidence for revalidation annually will help nurses if they change job during the three-year cycle. Ms Sills said: ‘If they move on after two years and they are in another organisation, they have a record of the hours they have worked in the previous year, their CPD and their reflections.’ She told senior nurses at the conference that it is important to talk to colleagues about revalidation now and challenge negative comments about the process.
‘I felt like a broken record and I know how hard it is to get a message through to the front line of nurses,’ she added. Nurses will also have to collect feedback on their practice to inform their reflective accounts, but Ms Sills said this will not mean they have to go around asking ‘x number of patients’ for feedback. ‘You get feedback all the time and you have to get used to recording it,’ she said. ‘Nurses who have got some fantastic feedback from a patient or carer should take down a few notes about how it made them feel and how it reinforces their practice going forward.’
‘TALK TO NEW RECRUITS ABOUT THEIR USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA’ Senior nurses should be talking to newly qualified nurses about their social media profiles to ensure they are suitable for the workplace, says NHS England’s head of patient experience – maternity, newborn, children and young people. Kath Evans addressed senior nurses at a conference on the Nursing and
Midwifery Council’s new code in London last week about promoting professionalism on social media. Ms Evans posed the question: ‘Are you asking new recruits about whether their social media profile is suitable for someone going into the profession?’ to nurses attendees.
She added that nurses can ask themselves some important questions before posting on social media platforms, by using the acronym THINK (is it true, helpful, inspiring, necessary, kind?) The Code advises nurses to use social media responsibly and respect the privacy of others at all times.
NURSING mayNo 27other :: voluses 29without no 39 ::permission. 2015 9 DownloadedSTANDARD from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 14, 2015. For personal use only. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
