The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has been given the greenlight on its ‘principles’ for advanced practice by its governing council, and will begin implementing them via a ‘soft launch’.
The move comes as part of the regulator’s wider work on regulating advanced practice, which has faced several delays in recent months.
Last week, the regulator unveiled its ‘principles’ for advanced practice for the first time, which include its ‘expectations’ for supporting those working at an advanced level and a definition for the profession and public around what advanced practice is.
Following approval in a council meeting today, the NMC said it will now begin its implementation of the principles via a ‘soft launch’ across the UK’s four nations, and ‘targeted engagement’ with advanced practice professionals, strategic stakeholders and other NMC colleagues.
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They will be published in full May 2025.
More progress needed
Kay Fawcett, chair of the NMC’s advanced practice steering group, told the council that work on advanced practice regulation ‘needs to continue to progress’.
She cautioned that the principles should not be seen as a ‘singular’ way to ‘fix the story’, but that they would shape guidance and introduce more standardised proficiency in advanced practice.
‘If we stop here, we will not get to where we need to get to. We have to do the rest of the work, and we have to do it in a time and manner,’ she said.
‘None of this sits in a vacuum’
Anne Totter, assistant director of education and standards, said the NMC was also this year examining whether professionals working at advanced practice should face additional requirements in the code and whether a review of the revalidation of advanced practice professionals was also needed.
‘The NMC plays no part in the regulation of advanced practice programmes. Now that is something we will go on to do,’ she said.
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She added that the advanced practice principles must be ‘carefully managed’ so the NMC can be ‘an enabler and not a disruptor’ and to ‘encourage growth’.
‘So, this is our first step. We recommended it to you, but none of this sits in a vacuum,’ Ms Trotter said.
In February, the NMC confirmed it would not be developing standards for consultation until the 2027-28 financial year.
The principles recognise the four established pillars of advanced practice that are aligned to the advanced practice frameworks of all four nations:
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- Clinical practice
- Education
- Research
- Leadership
- Management
And they include a professional and public definition of what advanced practice is:
- The professional version: A registered nurse or midwife working at an advanced level is an expert professional with additional post-graduate education and experience. They use their evidence-informed knowledge, skills and capability to influence, shape, deliver and lead safe and effective care, while managing risk, uncertainty and complexity.
- The public version: A registered nurse or midwife working at an advanced level of practice is a professional who has completed extra post-qualification education to increase their knowledge and skills, allowing them to give expert, higher-level care.
