NMC Standards

Pre-Registration Programmes

The NMC produced new Nursing and Midwifery standards in May 2018.
 
These standards are in 3 parts: 
 
The first 2 parts are relevant for all Nursing and Midwifery programmes, part 3 is programme specific. 
 
This document describes the requirements for approved education institutions (AEIs) together with practice learning partners who must provide a learning culture, educational governance and quality, student empowerment, curricula and assessment and educators and assessors who support, supervise and assess students. 
 
This document describes what needs to be in place to deliver safe and effective learning experiences, principles of student supervision and the role of the Practice Supervisor. It also describes roles and responsibilities of the Practice Assessor and Academic Assessor. This applies across Midwifery and all fields of Nursing.
 
Part 3:  Programme specific standards which include standards for the following programmes:
 
There are also 2 standards of proficiency to consider: Proficiency for registered nurses and Proficiency for midwives 
 
These are the standards that student nurses are required to achieve and represent the skills knowledge and attributes that all student nurses must achieve to become registered practitioners.
 
The outcome statements for each platform have been designed to apply across all four fields of nursing practice (Adult, Child Health, Learning Disabilities, Mental Health)
 
Proficiencies for nurses are grouped under 7 platforms and 2 Annexes:
 
7 Platforms

Platform 1 - Being an accountable professional 
Platform 2 - Promoting health and preventing ill health 
Platform 3 - Assessing needs and planning care
Platform 4 - Providing and evaluating care 
Platform 5 - Leading and managing nursing care and working in teams 
Platform 6 - Improving safety and quality of care
Platform 7 - Coordinating care 
 
Annexe A
Specifies the communication and management skills required
 
Annexe B
Specifies the nursing procedures which registered nurses must demonstrate being able to perform safely
 
Together these reflect what the NMC expects a newly registered nurse to know and be capable of doing safely and proficiently at the start of their career. 
 
These are the standards that student midwives are required to achieve and represent the skills knowledge and attributes that all student midwives must achieve to become registered practitioners.

Proficiencies for midwives are grouped under 6 Domains:
 
Domain 1: Being an accountable autonomous professional midwife 
Domain 2: Safe and effective midwifery care: promoting and providing continuity of care and carer
Domain 3: Universal care for all women and newborn infants 
Domain 4: Additional care for women and newborn infants with complications 
Domain 5: Promoting Excellence: the midwife as colleague, scholar and leader  
Domain 6: The midwife as skilled practitioner- this domain specifies the skills that a newly registered midwife must be able to perform safely. 
 
Together these reflect what the NMC expects a newly registered midwife to know and be capable of doing safely and proficiently at the start of their career. 
 
There is another NMC standard that you will need to be aware of in your role as Practice Supervisor /Practice Assessor if you are supporting a return to practice student:  Return to practice standards  

Post-Registration Programmes

As discussed above Parts 1 and part 2 of the NMC 2018 standards are relevant for all nursing and midwifery programmes and part 3 is programme specific 
 
These standards were published in January 2019 and include the legal requirements, entry requirements, recognition of prior learning, length of programme, methods of assessment and information on the award given. 
 
The standards that set out how nurses and midwives can achieve prescriber status, how prescribing programmes are run and what constitutes safe and effective prescribing practice are set out on the NMC site 
 
Further information about prescribing programmes can be found on the NMC website 
 
 
This booklet provides the standards of proficiency and standards of education required for specialist community public health nursing education programmes and were published in April 2004.