CPD is highly beneficial to all healthcare professionals, as it is a way to keep up to date with the latest developments within the industry, alongside developing your professional skills and knowledge. In this blog, Breeze Academy details CPD requirements for nurses and how to comply with them in order to keep your licence to practice.
So what CPD do Nurses need? To continue practising as a Nurse in the UK, you must complete 35 hours of CPD every 3 years including 20 hours of participatory learning. There are no specific activities included in the requirements, however they should be relevant to your practice or career development. Accurate records of these activities must be maintained and submitted.
Read on to find out more about the CPD for Nurses requirements and how you can meet them.
What CPD is Required for Nurses?
Continuing Professional Development or CPD is an incredibly important aspect of the healthcare profession, helping nurses to consistently deliver top quality care to patients and keep up to date with the latest industry standards.
The revalidation process requires that Nurses undertake at least 35 hours of CPD, maintained in accurate records and submitted every 3 years. These 35 hours must include 20 hours of participatory learning, activities that involve interaction with one or more healthcare professionals in a physical or virtual environment. Examples of these interactions include seminars, workshops or training courses both online and in person. It is important to note that additional training within the workplace such as fire or health and safety training is not considered a relevant form of CPD for Nurses unless it is directly related to your practice.
If you have reason to believe that you will not be able to meet the CPD requirements for any reason, you can submit an application to pause your CPD for up to 8 weeks. You will need to detail the reasons for your submission and explain how you intend to complete the training in the additional 8 weeks. For more information about applying for an extension, check our blog here.
What Counts as CPD Hours for Nurses?
When choosing the type of CPD you require, think logically about the skills you need to practice safely. There are always areas for improvement in your professional practice, discuss these with your manager or other colleagues to gain a clearer understanding of where you can improve.
As mentioned above, to comply with the requirements for revalidation, Nurses must complete 35 hours of CPD every 3 years including 20 hours of participatory learning. Relevant activities to complete the participatory learning hours can include the following, both in person and virtually:
- Workshops
- Skills based courses
- Peer review activities
- Mentoring a specific skill or role
- Group meetings
- Clinical audits
- Acting as an expert witness
- Practice visits to different environments that are relevant to the Nursing
For the remaining 15 hours, there are no set requirements for the method of completing these hours. It should be up to the individual to decide which activities will benefit their professional development, related to their strengths and weaknesses within the industry. This can be any relevant activity that takes place alone such as reading, e-learning or reviewing publications.
How Should CPD for Nurses be Recorded?
For validation, it is essential that any CPD completed by Nurses be recorded and updated as soon as the activities are completed to ensure accuracy. Your CPD records should include the following information:
- Details of the relevant activity completed
- How the activity is relevant to Nursing practice
- When you completed the activity
- Whether the activity was participatory or non-participatory and how many hours of each were completed during the activity
- Evidence of the activities’ completion (for example a certificate or recording)
- How the activity relates to the Code
What CPD Courses Are Available for Nurses?
CPD for Nurses is the ideal solution for expanding your practice's offerings. In addition to being a requirement to continue practising, it should be seen as a way to expand your skills and knowledge and a potential route to changing your healthcare specialty. There are many different areas of CPD for Nurses available which we have detailed below:
Acupuncture and Dry Needling
Acupuncture and Dry Needling CPD courses provide the essential knowledge required to offer the service in your practice safely, confidently and effectively. A beginner level course (lasting 3 days, plus the online component) is available for anyone who is currently a healthcare professional. There are also specific courses available online for particular areas of the body including:
- Headaches, neck and facial pain
- Shoulder, elbow and wrist pain
- Women’s health
- Sport/lower limb injuries or pain
We have a full range of Acupuncture and Dry Needling CPD courses available for nurses.
Sports Massage
The Level 3 beginners Sports Massage CPD course includes a series of online modules to complete before the face-to-face section of the course. This helps delegates to feel confident and safe before the workshop by completing the modules at your own pace. The in-person aspect of the course is practical, allowing you to put all of the knowledge you have gained from the modules into practice. Other courses available include:
Our full range of Sports Massage Therapy courses can be found here, along with our answers to your frequently asked questions.
Strength and Conditioning
Our strength and conditioning CPD course is ideal for nurses and other healthcare professionals looking to safely and effectively apply to principles of exercise prescription. The purpose of the course is to enhance the physical capabilities of your patients using the principles of exercise prescription embedded within strength and conditioning.
Yoga Teacher Training
Another option for branching out your career and expanding your practice offering is our Clinical Yoga Teacher Training course. The course is full online meaning you can take your time by pausing, rewinding and replaying when you need to without missing any important information.
Final Thoughts
CPD for nurses is a requirement to allow you to continue treating your patients with the essential care standards required. There are a large variety of CPD courses and activities available to complete the required 35 hours, with some including both the participatory learning hours and the non-participatory learning hours. These courses are relevant to individuals hoping to expand their knowledge and skills within the healthcare industry or change their speciality practice.
At Breeze Academy, we have a myriad of courses available whether you’re at beginner level or already have some experienced in the following areas:
No matter how you choose to complete your CPD hours, rest assured that you will get the full package from Breeze Academy.