How we develop our standards
We want to make sure that nurses, midwives and nursing associates are equipped with the knowledge, skills and behaviours they need to deliver safe care now and in the future. That’s why we review our standards routinely.
When developing standards, we work collaboratively with nursing and midwifery professionals, representatives from the wider health and social care community, advocacy groups and members of the public.
All these people have a valuable contribution to make and help us to develop standards that reflect best evidence which support our professionals in delivering safe and compassionate care.
Reviewing our standards
We began a major review of all our education standards and our quality assurance processes in 2016.
Since then, we have:
- introduced a new framework for education which includes a new approach for student supervision and assessment
- redefined our pre-registration standards of proficiency for both nursing and midwifery
- created new standards for prescribers
- introduced the new nursing associate role in England and welcomed the first nursing associates to our register
- launched new return to practice standards which help people remain on, and re-join, our register
- launched new post-registration standards which will make sure our professionals have the additional knowledge and skills they need to deliver high quality care.
We have most recently developed our post-registration standards as well as updated our pre-registration programme standards and standards framework following our exit from the EU.
Recent updates to our standards
Pre-registration standards and standards framework
April 2023
- Standards framework for education and training- standards for providers of all pre- and post-registration nursing, midwifery and nursing associate programmes
- Standards for pre-registration nursing associate programmes- the requirements that apply to all pre-registration nursing associate education programmes
- Standards for pre-registration midwifery programmes- requirements that apply to all pre-registration midwifery education programmes
- Standards for pre-registration nursing associate programmes- the requirements that apply to all pre-registration nursing associate education programmes
- Standards for return to practice programmes- requirements that apply to all approved return to practice programmes
- Standards for prescribing programmes- the requirements that apply to all prescribing programmes
Post-registration standards
July 2022
- Standards of proficiency for specialist community public health nurses -the knowledge, skills, and attributes all specialist community public health nurses (SCPHNs) must demonstrate
- Standards of proficiency for community nursing specialist practice qualifications - the skills, knowledge and attributes all community nurses with specialist community qualifications (SPQs) must demonstrate
- Standards for post-registration programmes – requirements that apply to all post-registration education programmes
Midwifery standards
November 2019
- Standards of proficiency for midwives - the knowledge and skills that midwives must have at the point of joining our register
- Standards for pre-registration midwifery programmes - requirements that apply to all pre-registration midwifery education programmes
Return to practice standards
March 2019
- Return to practice standards - the options available if you are unable to meet the practice hours requirements for revalidation or readmission
- Standards for return to practice programmes - requirements that apply to all approved return to practice programmes
Nursing associate standards
October 2018
- Standards of proficiency for nursing associates - the knowledge and skills that nursing associates should have at the point of joining our register
- Standards for pre-registration nursing associate programmes - the requirements that apply to all pre-registration nursing associate education programmes
Standards for education and training
May 2018
- Standards framework for education and training - standards for providers of all pre- and post-registration nursing, midwifery and nursing associate programmes
- Standards for student supervision and assessment - how nursing, midwifery and nursing associate students are supported and assessed in theory and practice
Nursing standards
May 2018
- Standards of proficiency for registered nurses - the knowledge and skills that nurses should have at the point of joining our register
- Standards for pre-registration nursing programmes - the requirements that apply to all pre-registration nursing programmes
Prescribing standards
May 2018
- Standards for prescribing programmes - the requirements that apply to all prescribing programmes
- Adoption of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s competency framework – the knowledge and skills that nurse and midwife prescribers should have
We withdrew our standards for medicines management.
