What Evidence can I use to Show my Continuing Professional Development? (CPD Part 6)

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) expects all nurses and midwives to maintain evidence of their continuing competence.

When considering professional development goals and activities, you should chose those that best correspond and relate to the context of your current practice and/or your future directions and career aspirations.

If you access any reliable on-line search engine you will find that the literature outlines a broad range of components that could be included in a CPD Professional Portfolio and many examples of existing documents or activities which could contribute to building an effective and transparent record of evidence of your continuing competence.  This can be confusing.  

As with your learning activities you  should use a diverse range of evidence and use both primary and secondary sources.  Your evidence should be easily validated and highly credible.  You should ensure that it is directly relevant and support your claims of competence.

•  Primary source evidence is derived directly from practice outcomes. 
• Secondary source evidence is provided by another source such as a supervisor or expert used to validate your claims.

The following table provides  a broad range of evidence you can use to support your CPD.

Reference:  

The Health Objective A Professional Portfolio of Continuing Competence for Nurses &
Midwives  Understanding & Managing CPD  A Practical Tool Kit 

2nd Edition July 2011 healthobjective@westnet.com.au

 

What Constitutes Continuing Professional Development Activities? (CPD Part 5)

CPD activities can range from informal, self-directed activities, such as reading journal articles, to quite formal activities, such as academic education programs or courses. You should consider those activities that best meet your learning needs and goals,  time resources and costs and also your preferred learning stye. 

Primarily you should explore a wide range and diversity of learning activities where you are able to gather information, analyse and reflect on that information and test its application to your practice. 

It can also be a bit confusing about an activity can be included as part of your CPD and when is that activity merely part of your job. A practice nurse recently asked me if the fact that she was required to mentor a new staff person into the job could be included as part of her own CDP. I am also often asked by nurse educators who are often unsure what they can claim as CPD when their role is fundamentally teaching. 


The distinction is fairly simple. 

Ask yourself did the activity contribute to or consolidate newly acquired knowledge for you, and does that new knowledge directly relate to your context of practice. 

If it did, then it is part of your CPD.  Therefore, in relation to the practice nurse who was responsible for mentoring a new staff person into the role, the mentoring itself was part of her job role and not specifically contributing to her own CPD hours. The nurse educator who runs annual skills updates for nursing staff is fulfilling her role responsibilities and this is not part of her CDP hours.  That is not to say that these activities do not contribute the the mentors/educators skills, they are merely not part of their planned CPD requirements as determined by the Standard.


If however the practice nurse had identified a mentoring activity associated with a new learning goal, and the mentoring was a new/developing skill in itself or the context in which she was mentoring was newly acquired knowledge and she was using a mentoring activity to consolidate this knowledge, then clearly the activity would be part of her CPD and documented in her Learning Plan.

The following table provides a range of activities for you to consider ranging from informal to formal activities. 

Reference:  

The Health Objective A Professional Portfolio of Continuing Competence for Nurses & Midwives  Understanding & Managing CPD  A Practical Tool Kit 

2nd Edition July 2011 healthobjective@westnet.com.au

What is Continuing Competence? (CPD Part 4)

 Continuing Competence is the ongoing ability of a nurse or midwife to integrate and apply the knowledge, skills, judgment and personal attributes required to practise safely and ethically in a designated role and setting. It is essential to professional nursing practice because it contributes to the quality of patient outcomes and to the evidence base for nursing practice.

It is enhanced through life long learning and is a shared responsibility between Individual nurses and midwives, professional and regulatory nursing organisations, employers, educational institutions and governments

Competence is the combination of skills, knowledge, attitudes, values and abilities that underpin effective and/or superior performance in a profession/occupational area and context of practice. Continuing competence is the ability of nurses and midwives to demonstrate that they have maintained their competence to practice in relation to their context of practice, and the relevant ANMC competency standards under which they gain and retain their license to practice. (ANMC 2009)

Continuing Competence requires nurses and midwives to reflect on their practice through self-regulation, which includes continuing professional development, self-assessment, critical analysis and evaluation of learning.

Using this approach nurses and midwives are able to formalise their evidence of competence on a regular and ongoing basis and record this evidence in a validated and credible way (when required).

Continuing competence contributes to the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of nursing and midwifery practice. It enables nurses and midwives to base their practice on current and strongest evidence necessary to produce high quality client/woman outcomes. Further it assists in minimising risk and sub standard practice and acts to further ensure protection of the public. (CNA 2000)

To practice safely and competently, nurses and midwives comply with professional standards, base their practice on relevant evidence, adhere to the Code of Ethics and Code of Professional Conduct for Registered Nurses and Registered Midwives and continually acquire new competencies in their area of practice. One way nurses and midwives can obtain, maintain and enhance their competence is through continuous learning using both formal and informal methods.

Continuous learning requires nurses and midwives to reflect on their competencies in relation to the changes occurring in society and the health care environment and, as a result of that reflection, take action to acquire and develop new competencies. Continuing education develops and enhances competencies significantly.

References:

• ANMC Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council  Continuing Competence Framework February 2009 
• CNA Canadian Nursing Association A national framework for continuing competence for registered nurses (2000)

What is Continuing Professional Development? (CPD Part 3)

Definition of Continuing Professional Development

Any process or activity, planned or otherwise, that contributes to an increase in or the maintenance of knowledge, skills and personal qualities to learning, teaching [clinical care] and broader academic practice. This includes leadership, management and administration. (Norris 2003)

Continuing professional development is the means by which members of the profession maintain, improve and broaden their knowledge, expertise and competence, and develop the personal and professional qualities required throughout their professional lives. The CPD cycle involves reviewing practice, identifying learning needs, planning and participating in relevant learning activities, and reflecting on the value of these activities (ANMC 2009)

Aim of Continuing Professional Development

The aim of continuing professional development is to ensure knowledge and competence acquired during undergraduate and post-graduate education remains current and new information is acquired and translated into practice. It is a professional responsibility for all practicing nurses and midwives to maintain their competence to practice.

Continuing Professional Development

·      Enhances clinical, academic, leadership and managerial skills in the short term and

·      Facilitates longer-term professional effectiveness and career development.

Principles for Continuing Professional Development

Continuing Professional Development;

·     is a process of lifelong learning for all nurses and midwives and enhances professional effectiveness

·     assists nurses and midwives to maintain and enhance theoretical knowledge, clinical skills, leadership and managerial skills

·     should be largely self-directed; incorporate reflective practice; and be relevant to the individual nurse’s/midwives’ professional practice

·     can occur in any setting and can be formal structured learning, or experiential learning that includes reflection in and on practice, which is a way of validating day-to-day practice

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References:

• Norris, R. (2003). Implementing the ILTHE Continuing Professional Development Framework. Report of the CPD Consultation held Spring 2003
• Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council (2009) Continuing Professional Development
• Nurses Board of Victoria - Guidelines for Nurses and Midwives for Continuing Professional Development  October 2009 (rescinded)

Nurses and midwives are self-regulating professionals (CPD Part 2)

We hear this all of the time. If we are self-regulating why are we now required to complete mandatory continuing professional development and why will the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) be randomly auditing nurses and midwives to determine if we have met these requirements? 

The answer is easy really. We have National Competencies for nursing and midwifery practice. These Competencies are the benchmark against which we assess our practice against a minimum standard. It enables us to determine our level of competence and areas of practice that we need to develop further to maintain this competence. As licensed health professionals we are accountable for our practice, our professional judgment and our decision and actions. In doing so we must be able to demonstrate that we are competent in our area of practice. 

We have for many years been required to complete a statutory declaration, as part of our registration requirement, in which we declare that we are competent to practice. (We also declare that we have recency of practice, that we do not have any criminal convictions, that we are fit to practice (eg do not have any impairments) and that we practice against the Competency Standards). Now the Board has determined that we must have be able to demonstrate this competence is required. The process by which the Board has determined we do this is through annual CPD.   If we declare that we are competent to obtain our license to practice, then we must be able to provide evidence to support this declaration. The Board is exercising their mandate to protect the public by randomly sampling nurses and midwives to ensure we undertake appropriate professional development to maintain our competence. 

Individual nurses and midwives, as members of self-regulating professions, are responsible for:

·      Demonstrating commitment to continuing competence through life-long learning, reflective

     practice and integrating learning into their practice

·      Ensuring that their competencies are relevant and up-to-date on a continuing basis in relation

    to the clients/women they serve

·      Seeking out quality educational experiences relevant to their area of practice

·      Supporting each other in demonstrating, developing and maintaining competence

·      Working with employers to ensure that their workplaces support continuing competence, and

·      Meeting the requirements of their regulatory body for continuing competence (CNA 2004)

Continuing Professional Development: is the means by which members of the profession maintain, improve and broaden their knowledge, expertise and competence, and develop the personal and professional qualities required throughout their professional lives. The CPD cycle involves reviewing practice, identifying learning needs, planning and participating in relevant learning activities, and reflecting on the value of these activities (ANMC 2009).

The challenge for us is not to complete professional development, our professions have always demonstrated a culture or commitment to ongoing education and training to ensure our continuing competence. The challenge is in formally documenting the evidence of this learning and articulating how it supports and impacts upon our competence. Further, as much if not most of our learning is self directed, the challenge will be to appropriately reflect on and document this learning, something that many of us are not familiar with.

References:

Canadian Nursing Association and Canadian Schools of Nursing Joint Position Statement Promoting Continuing Competence for Registered Nurses June 2004 (Adapted by author)

ANMC (Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council) (2009): Continuing Competence Framework for Nursing and Midwives Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia: Guidelines for Continuing Professional Development

Nurses Required to undertake Continuing Professional Development in Australia (CPD Part 1)

Welcome to The Health Objective and to my very first post! 

I hope to be able to provide you with helpful information in relation regulation and professional practice. Nurses and midwives today need to be professionally and politically aware. I hope to provide an avenue for open discussion and reflection on the challenges we face as regulated health professionals. Your involvement will add the depth and flavour needed to fully explore these topics and issues. I invite and encourage you to comment on my posts. So lets start..........  

 

Many nurses and midwives I have spoken to are confused about the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) new requirements for mandatory annual Continuing Professional Development. They are concerned that the Board has not clearly defined what constitutes evidence of CPD or in what format the evidence must be provided. They are unclear also what activities will be recognised as appropriate learning, who is required to validate the evidence or how to apply the learning directly to the Competency Standards. I hope over the next few posts to clarify these requirements and assist you to get started, if you haven't already.  Nurses and midwives in contemporary practice are faced with many challenges.  One of the most important responsibilities you face is advancing your professional knowledge as part of your professional accountability and competence. Reflecting on your practice, achievements and difficulties are a necessary part of demonstrating and maintaining continuing competence. Your ability to analysis your current practice, identify ongoing learning needs, focus your professional goals and evaluate this practice and learning are imperative to the process. A Professional Portfolio of Continuing Professional Development provides a practical and accessible resource to support this evidence. Further it can assist in developing a resume, preparing for performance reviews and job interviews.  Since 1 July 2010, all nurses and midwives are required to maintain evidence of Continuing Professional  Development on an annual basis. The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) requires that all nurses and midwives in Australia, maintain a current verified record of continuing professional development (CPD) and actively and critically engage in a minimum of 20 hours of CPD each year. For practitioners on more than one register (ie registered nurse and registered midwife) they are required to undertake 20 hours of nursing plus 20 hours of midwifery CPD. Where the CPD activity is relevant to both nursing and midwifery, the hours can be counted as evidence for both professions.  The NMBA requires that you;

• undertake CPD relevant to the context of your practice
• keep documentation of CPD hours completed
• document dates, description of outcomes, number of hours spent on each activity - where your CPD is self directed
• ensure your learning activities are verified
• identify and prioritise learning needs (based on evaluation of your practice against the relevant Competency Standards
• develop a learning plan (based on your learning needs)
• participate in effective learning activities (relevant to your identified learning needs)
• reflect on the values of each learning activity and its relevance to and impact on your practice.

Context of practice refers to the environment in which nursing is practising, and which in turn influences that practice. It includes the:

·      characteristics of the consumer (including their cultural background) and the complexity of care required by them

·      model of care, type of service or health facility and physical setting

·      amount of clinical support and/or supervision that is available resources that are available, including the staff skill mix and level of access to other health care professionals (ANMC 2007)

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Reference:  Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia Continuing Professional Development Registration Standard 1 July 2010 www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au   ANMC 2007 A National Framework for the Development of Decision-Making Tools for Nursing and Midwifery Practice.