Caroline's revalidation story

Caroline is a Band 7 Labour Ward Coordinator.

Area of practice

“I have been a midwife for many years. I was a registered nurse early in my career but that registration has now lapsed.

“As well as being a Labour Ward Coordinator, I am also a Professional Midwife Advocate (PMA) and get involved in teaching on the mandatory training days. I am responsible for the student midwives’ allocation. I also support the newly qualified midwives and am a resource to them during their shifts.

"I very occasionally care for a woman in labour but it is quite rare these days due to my coordinator role.”

Preparing for revalidation

Next year Caroline will be revalidating for the third time. She feels confident in what she needs to demonstrate and has used the resources on the NMC website.

“I keep a file on my laptop with all the templates and I am pleased that over the last two years I have been completing the documentation regularly. So by the time I need to revalidate I will not have too much to complete.”

Practice hours

“I now work full time, so I can easily demonstrate that I have completed 450 hours practice over the last three years. However, I am thinking about reducing my hours, so I will need to remember to check that I am doing enough hours before I revalidate again in three years.”

Feedback

“Getting feedback is always a challenge when you are not doing a clinical facing role full time.

“As I don’t give direct care to women all the time, I thought that I could ask one of the midwives who works on the labour to give me feedback as a coordinator.

"I have devised a very short questionnaire using some key themes from the Code for her to complete. I think I will adapt the form and ask one of the student midwives for whom I have been a Practice Assessor to do the same."

Continuing professional development (CPD)

Although Caroline’s plans for CPD changed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, she was still able to carry out a variety of activities.

“I had planned to go to some conferences this year but that didn’t happen. However, I have attended some online events so have recorded my reflections and learning from those.

“I continue to subscribe to a journal and as a member of the Royal College of Midwives, I get the RCM magazine regularly.

“I’ve also completed all my mandatory training. This year I have been asked to join the multidisciplinary guideline group, which has really helped me to widen my reading and knowledge of recently published research and national guidance.”

Reflective accounts

Caroline noticed she had a mixture of reflections for her revalidation this time.

“I was co-ordinator when we had a cord prolapse, so it was important to reflect on that incident as part of a debrief to the midwives and other staff involved.

“I find change to the midwifery roster quite a challenge so reflecting on that meant I could collect my thoughts for some follow up meetings with my line manager.

“I’m also having some difficulty with one member of the team. She is new to the Trust but she does not seem to be settling in very well to the unit or with the team. She recently had a rather public disagreement with one of the other Band 7s. A reflection on how I have dealt with this situation could be helpful.

“Linked to my work on evidence-based guidelines, I have drafted the public information leaflet on using a Foley balloon catheter for induction of labour. This is used in many other hospitals but it is a change of practice for our unit. I am really interested in the use of Foley’s catheters for induction – I will reflect on my experience so far and it will give me the opportunity to read more about the research."

Reflective discussion

Caroline arranged her reflective discussion with one of the midwifery lecturers she knows very well.

“I feel more comfortable having a discussion about my practice with someone who I do not work with directly. Also, she has recently completed her PhD and I am interested to hear about her work and latest evidence which we may be introducing into practice.”

Confirmation

“The labour ward matron is my line manager so she will be confirming that all my revalidation requirements are met. We’ve got an appointment in the diary well in advance of the revalidation date just in case anything is outstanding or the unit is busy on the day of the session.”

Final thoughts

“I am very clear about what I need to do for revalidation. It has been very straightforward now that I have kept my records for it up to date over the last three years.”