Continuing Professional Development Frequently Asked Questions

What is Continuing Professional Development?

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is the purposeful maintenance and improvement of a professionals knowledge and skills to remain competent in their chosen profession for the benefit of themselves, their patients or clients and the wider profession. CPD is recognised as n. a commitment to being professional, keeping up to date and continuously seeking to improve. CPD is intended to encourage the development of professionals so that they reflect on their practice and its quality, are able to adopt and assess new approaches d to their practice and develop better ways of working as a result. CPD acknowledges varying learning styles among professionals and includes a wide range of formal and informal learning activities. The key principles behind CPD ar that it: are Is self-directed; Is based on learning needs identified by the individual; Builds on an individuals existing knowledge and experience; Links an individuals learning to their practice; Includes an evaluation of the individuals development. Unlike many other countries and some states and territories of Australia, nurses in New South Wales were not required to provide evidence of completion of CPD activities for renewal of registration prior to 1 July 2010. Instead, the Nurses and Midwives B Board of NSW established the ANMCs Code of Professional Conduct as setting out guidelines that should be observed by nurses in their professional practice. The Code requires all nurses to maintain competence for current practice, including participation in ongoing professional development. The national registration scheme has now determined that requiring the completion of CPD for ongoing registration provides a The knowledge needed to function effectively as a professional nurse or midwife continues to expand and change while consumer demand and expectations continue to increase. Therefore, as registered health practitioners, nurses and midwives have a professional obligation to maintain their competence and to aim for continuous improvement in the standard of service they provide. Accordingly, nurses and midwives must urses complete CPD activities to meet the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia Australias (NMBAs) mandatory requirements for ongoing registration. (Full details can be
accessed from the NMBAs website: http://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/en. aspx)

Why didnt the NSW Nurses and Midwives Board require nurse and nurses midwives to complete CPD prior to mplete July 2010?

Why is CPD necessary?

CPD is a critical mechanism in ensuring that all members of the nursing and midwifery professions are able to deliver high quality nursing and midwifery care and services and keep pace with health care developments that affect their practice.

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more effective way of ensuring that all nurses and midwives maintain their competence for current practice. ent Midwives endorsed as eligible midwives under the National Law must complete a further 20 hours of CPD for their endorsement.

Who is required to complete CPD? What is an hour of CPD?

The NMBA requires all practising registered and enrolled nurses, registered nurses endorsed as nurse practitioners, midwives and midwives endorsed as eligible midwives and midwife practitioners to complete CPD. Practising includes all clinical and non nonclinical roles related to the delivery of nursing and midwifery services. Non Nonclinical encompasses roles such as management, education, research, policy development, regulatory and industrial. Students or nurses or midwives who have non-practising registration are not practising required to complete CPD. One hour of CPD equals one hour of active learning. It is the nurses or midwifes responsibility to calculate how many hours of active learning have taken place.

Are CPD points required by the NMBA?

No. CPD points are offered by several professional organisations and employers for their own professional development or continuing education programs. However, the use of CPD points is not relevant to the NMBAs requirements for CPD i.e. the CPD, requirements for ongoing registration; only or hours may be counted. Nurses and midwives may participate in formal CPD programs run by nursing or midwifery organisations but will need to calculate the number of hours the program represents for them to be recognised as CPD by the NMBA.

What must nurses and midwives do to meet the NMBAs annual CPD requirements?
The NMBA requires all practising s registered and enrolled nurses and midwives to complete at least 20 hours of CPD per year. The CPD hours must be relevant to the individual nurses or midwifes context of practice. If an individual is both a registered nurse and a midwife they must complete 20 hours of nursing CPD and 20 hours of midwifery CPD, unless the CPD activities are relevant to both professions, when they may be counted as evidence for both nursing and midwifery. Registered nurses who hold endorsements under the National Law must complete at least a further 10 hours per year in CPD related the their endorsement.

What activities can be included in CPD?

There are no compulsory or prescribed activities for nursing and midwifery CPD. There are also no particular restrictions on the types or number of activit that may activities be included as nursing or midwifery CPD. The NMBA expects only that the CPD is relevant to the nurses or midwifes context of practice and that the activities undertaken meet the individual learning needs of the nurse or midwife.

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Possible CPD activities may include, but e are not limited to: Reflecting on feedback, keeping a practice journal; Acting as a preceptor/mentor/tutor; Participating on accreditation, audit or quality improvement committees; Undertaking supervised practice for skills development; lls Participating in clinical audits, critical incident monitoring, case reviews and clinical meetings; Participating in a professional reading and discussion group; Developing skills in IT, numeracy, communications, improving own performance, problem solving and working with others; Writing or reviewing educational materials, journal articles, books; Active membership of professional groups and committees; Reading professional journals or books; Writing for publication; Developing policy, protocols or guidelines; Working with a mentor to improve practice; Presenting at or attending workplace education, in in-service sessions or skills workshops; Undertaking undergraduate or postgraduate studies which are of relevance to the context of practice; Presenting at or attending conferences, lectures, seminars or professional meetings; Conducting or contributing to research; Undertaking relevant online or distance education; and Mandatory in-service education that service is directly related to an individual individuals context of practice.

Can mandatory in-service education service be included in CPD?

Yes, if it is directly relevant to a nurses or midwifes context of practice and contributes to development of their practice, mandatory in-service education service can be included in CPD.

Does CPD need to be provided by an accredited organisation organisation?

No. CPD activities may be undertaken in a range of ways including: self-directed, workplace based or through seminars, conferences or formal programs offered by professional organisations and education providers. The important point is that the activities are relevant to the individual nurses or midwifes context of practice and are able ractice to meet their learning needs.

Must nurses and midwives provide evidence of CPD to the NMBA every time they renew their registration?
No. Nurses and midwives will only be required to make an annual statement when they renew their reg registration which includes a declaration that they have m met the NMBAs requirements for CPD.

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Continuing Professional Development Frequently Asked Questions

The NMBA will audit a small percentage of randomly selected nurses and midwives each year. If a nurse or midwife is selected for audit, they will then be required to provide evidence of their CPD to the NMBA. All registrants will be allowed a minimum of at least 12 months in the national scheme before being selected for audit.

What must nurses and midwives include in the documentation of their CPD evidence?
Documentation of CPD evidence must includes dates of the CPD activities, a brief description of the outcomes of the activities, and the number of hours spent in each activity. All evidence should be . verified. The NMBA expects nurses and midwives to demonstrate that they have taken a planned approach to completion of their CPD for the year. This requires nurses and midwives to: s identify their learning needs based on an evaluation of their practice against recognised professional standards; develop a brief learning plan based on the needs identified; participate in CPD activities which meet these learning need and, needs; reflect on the value of these activities to their practice.

Is there a prescribed way to record CPD evidence?

No. Nurses and midwives must keep written documentation of their CPD that demonstrates completion of a minimum of 20 hours of CPD per year but there is no set format prescribed by the NMBA for demonstration of CPD evidence by nurses and midwives. Nurses and midwives may develo their develop own formats for documentation of their CPD evidence or may use formats or templates that have been developed by education providers, employers or professional associations. Some education providers, employers or professional associations advocate the use of professional portfolios. This is a sensible approach for nurses and midwives to organise the information which supports their professional practice, including evidence of CPD. Nurses and midwives may choose to keep a professional portfolio but this is not a requirement of the NMBA for CPD evidence.

This means that nurses and midwives need to keep evidence that explains why they xplains chose the particular CPD activity and how it met their learning needs; how it was relevant to their context of practice; what they learnt from the activities and how it contributed to their practice.

How long should nurses and midwives keep evidence of their CPD?
The NMBA currently recommends that nurses and midwives should keep their CPD evidence for a minimum of three years.

However, this period may be extended to 5 years following finalisation and release of the NMBAs audit policy.

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