Employer Facilitation Framework
The legislation states that an employer of a registered nurse or registered midwife shall facilitate the maintenance of their professional competence in accordance with a professional competence scheme established by the NMBI. The NMBI Professional Competence Scheme is a formal mechanism to enhance public protection by ensuring nurses and midwives retain their ability to practice safely and effectively throughout their professional careers. The NMBI Professional Competence scheme requires the practitioner to:
Complete a minimum of:
- 60 hours of CPD activities over 3 previous years (average 20 hours per year)
- 450 practice hours over a 3-year period (average of 150 hours per year)
- Verification of practice hours.
Employer’s legislative responsibilities
The relevant sections of the legislation, for the purposes of this document, are found in Part 11 of the Nurses and Midwives Act 2011, as amended.
Section 90 sets out the duty of employers in relation to maintenance of professional competence of registered nurses and registered midwives.
90. — (1) An employer of a registered nurse or registered midwife shall facilitate the maintenance by that nurse or midwife of his or her professional competence pursuant to a professional competence scheme applicable to the nurse or midwife concerned.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the employer may facilitate the maintenance of professional competence by a registered nurse or registered midwife it employs by providing learning opportunities for that nurse or midwife in the workplace.
Please note that the term practitioners will refer to registered nurse or registered midwife for the remainder of this document.