UK nurses overseas - maintaining NMC registration

[skylark]

OK, so the rules have changed, and CPD is no longer enough.

I'm wondering about how to achieve the "reflective discussion" part when there are no UK registered nurses where I work.

So, all expat Brits, please let me know how you plan to maintain your NMC registration. Is anyone agreeable to contacting me, with a view to maybe planning an email/Skype discussion that we both can document?

I'm in Chicago btw, so if there are any other UK nurses here, we can meet in Panera instead : )

[skylark, BSN, RN]

There are a lot of Irish nurses working in London who go home for vacation. Might be worth networking and finding someone who can complete the discussion with you next time they are home?

Plan B contact a former colleague and either meet or skype.

Plan C - skype someone from here and then get the form filled in later.

[Dragon11]

I had to return to the UK last year, after 17 years working in the US. However, I have not been able to revalidate because everyone I trained with has stopped practicing and I couldn't find anyone to act as a confirmer. I talked with NMC and their only suggestion was to sign up for a return to practice course which I decided against. I gave up eventually and work in a call center now, pay is about the same but it is such a waste of my training.

[VKALA]

I'm really sorry to read that you couldn't renew your license.I hope NMC finds a way out for nurse's who were not able to renew their license.If I knew I could have been the confirmer for you!

[jmcglynn]

Well, it appears I am in the same predicament as many others...an NMC-licensed nurse practicing in the U.S. (for 21 years), and in need of a confirmer who is also registered with the NMC. I must complete my revalidation by July 1st, which is in 19 days. I was told in an email (yes, two-weeks seems to be the quickest response time) that I may Skype with someone. What could that person possibly know about my practice? What in the world would I know about their practice, and would I want their name on my confirmer form? Ah, well...any takers? I will wake up any hour of the night to make it convenient for you! I am a Second Level Educational Specialist serving 12 schools in a Pennsylvania School District (Northampton Area School District) as a School Nurse.

Please let me know if you are willing to have a reflective discussion with me regarding how The Code shapes and influences my practice.

Jennifer McGlynn RN, CSN

1 + [phone]

[jmcglynn]

Hi Marion,

I will be your confirmer, if you will be mine...is that permissible? I just posted a plea right now, and then noticed your post. I work in the US in Pennsylvania.

Jennifer McGlynn RN, CSN

[jmcglynn]

Third-party checks could block staff from NMC register

Almost one in six nurses have said they would be unable to prove their fitness to practise under a proposed model of regulation, according to a report seen by Nursing Standard.

Under revalidation, a new approach to ensuring nurses keep up to date drawn up by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), registrants would be expected to find a third party to provide confirmation of their fitness to remain on the register every three years.

Findings from a consultation carried out by the regulator, yet to be published, show that of 1,406 nurses, around 15 per cent of nurses questioned would not be able to find a fellow registrant, or a manager and another registrant, to say they are fit to remain on the register.

If a nurse is line-managed by a registrant, confirmation would be given

solely by the manager. However, if

the person overseeing the nurse's practice is not a registrant, confirmation will be sought both from the person overseeing their practice and from someone who is on the register and is familiar with their practice.

Problem areas

Three groups may struggle to use either model – nurses and midwives working overseas; nurses and midwives practising independently, including the self-employed; and some nurses who work solely or mainly for a nursing agency.

People working overseas can

be overseen by a senior nurse who is not registered with the NMC and a potential solution suggested in the report would be to allow nurses

registered with equivalent bodies in other countries to be confirmers.

A solution for those in independent practice, for example cosmetic nurses, could be to set up industry bodies that could take on the role of confirmer, and agencies could play a similar role for nurses working for them, the report says.

Confirmation will ideally take place during an appraisal under the revalidation plans.

But the consultation showed that, of those nurses who said they could use the one-confirmer model and had an appraisal in the past year (903), 18 per cent (160) said the person who would be their confirmer does not conduct their appraisal.

The NMC's council will be asked to approve a revalidation model, to be piloted next year, at a meeting this week.

[babyNP., APRN]

Third-party checks could block staff from NMC register

Almost one in six nurses have said they would be unable to prove their fitness to practise under a proposed model of regulation, according to a report seen by Nursing Standard.

Under revalidation, a new approach to ensuring nurses keep up to date drawn up by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), registrants would be expected to find a third party to provide confirmation of their fitness to remain on the register every three years.

Findings from a consultation carried out by the regulator, yet to be published, show that of 1,406 nurses, around 15 per cent of nurses questioned would not be able to find a fellow registrant, or a manager and another registrant, to say they are fit to remain on the register.

If a nurse is line-managed by a registrant, confirmation would be given

solely by the manager. However, if

the person overseeing the nurse's practice is not a registrant, confirmation will be sought both from the person overseeing their practice and from someone who is on the register and is familiar with their practice.

Problem areas

Three groups may struggle to use either model – nurses and midwives working overseas; nurses and midwives practising independently, including the self-employed; and some nurses who work solely or mainly for a nursing agency.

People working overseas can

be overseen by a senior nurse who is not registered with the NMC and a potential solution suggested in the report would be to allow nurses

registered with equivalent bodies in other countries to be confirmers.

A solution for those in independent practice, for example cosmetic nurses, could be to set up industry bodies that could take on the role of confirmer, and agencies could play a similar role for nurses working for them, the report says.

Confirmation will ideally take place during an appraisal under the revalidation plans.

But the consultation showed that, of those nurses who said they could use the one-confirmer model and had an appraisal in the past year (903), 18 per cent (160) said the person who would be their confirmer does not conduct their appraisal.

The NMC's council will be asked to approve a revalidation model, to be piloted next year, at a meeting this week.

This is interesting!! Is there any way to learn the outcome of this meeting? Can you post what happened?

I am in a similar situation as an American who has never practiced in the U.K. But still have to re validate next year

[jmcglynn]

Dear BabyNP,

Is it possible we can serve as each other's confirmer? Depending where you are in the US, the time zone for skyping might even be the same! :)

I have an NMC Pin number, just as you have...isn't that the requirement? As long as we discuss The Code, and how the premise of The Code affects our practice, I do not believe we are required to actually work in the UK.

What are your thoughts?

Jen McGlynn RN

[skylark, BSN, RN]

I had to return to the UK last year, after 17 years working in the US. However, I have not been able to revalidate because everyone I trained with has stopped practicing and I couldn't find anyone to act as a confirmer. I talked with NMC and their only suggestion was to sign up for a return to practice course which I decided against. I gave up eventually and work in a call center now, pay is about the same but it is such a waste of my training.

If you were working as an RN in the US, why would you need a RTP course?

As long as you can show you did the clinical hours and met the study requirements, I don't see why they had a problem.

Did you keep your NMC registration current while in the US?

[skylark, BSN, RN]

Dear BabyNP,

Is it possible we can serve as each other's confirmer? Depending where you are in the US, the time zone for skyping might even be the same! :)

I have an NMC Pin number, just as you have...isn't that the requirement? As long as we discuss The Code, and how the premise of The Code affects our practice, I do not believe we are required to actually work in the UK.

What are your thoughts?

Jen McGlynn RN

Don't forget there are two parts to this, the professional discussion and then the confirmer!

I managed to complete the professional discussion when I was in the UK last month, but I still need a confirmer to sign off all my records for clinical hours, courses, and study.

How many of us here are overseas and trying to revalidate NMC registration?

Please PM me, and I can see if I can put together a list, pairing people up to assist each other!

[jmcglynn]

I had an extensive professional discussion with my Department Head, Debra Collins, a brilliant woman of formidable experience and intellect, who is crafting healthcare policy for the state of Pennsylvania. We sat for several hours, pouring over my revalidation packet and The Code, and how The Code relates to my practice. I am simply in need of skyping with someone who has an NMC Pin number and will serve as my confirmer so I can get through the online revalidation process. I was flabbergasted that the extensive effort I went to to revalidate was not deemed sufficient until I tracked down an unknown NMC registrant and put his/her name and Pin number into my online form.

[skylark, BSN, RN]

I had an extensive professional discussion with my Department Head, Debra Collins, a brilliant woman of formidable experience and intellect, who is crafting healthcare policy for the state of Pennsylvania. We sat for several hours, pouring over my revalidation packet and The Code, and how The Code relates to my practice. I am simply in need of skyping with someone who has an NMC Pin number and will serve as my confirmer so I can get through the online revalidation process. I was flabbergasted that the extensive effort I went to to revalidate was not deemed sufficient until I tracked down an unknown NMC registrant and put his/her name and Pin number into my online form.

The reflective discussion should be with someone with NMC registration, not an overseas nurse.

The discussion relates to the NMC code, as you say, so it needs to be someone experienced at working within that code.

I'm in the US but have no support in maintaining my UK registration from my "not my problem" manager, so I had the discussion with a former coworker on a trip home, but will also need to find a confirmer by the end of this year.

My main concern is that there is a section where you have to tick that you have regular appraisals, and I don't! I hope that I can still complete the rest of the revalidation and it does not block me from doing so.