Pre-Registration programmes
The NMC produced new Nursing and Midwifery standards in May 2018.
These standards are in 3 parts:
The first 2 parts are relevant for all Nursing and Midwifery programmes, part 3 is programme specific.
This document describes the requirements for approved education institutions (AEIs) together with practice learning partners who must provide a learning culture, educational governance and quality, student empowerment, curricula and assessment and educators and assessors who support, supervise and assess students.
This document describes what needs to be in place to deliver safe and effective learning experiences, principles of student supervision and the role of the Practice Supervisor. It also describes roles and responsibilities of the Practice Assessor and Academic Assessor. This applies across Midwifery and all fields of Nursing.
Part 3: Programme specific standards which include standards for the following programmes:
There are also 2 standards of proficiency to consider: Proficiency for registered nurses and Proficiency for midwives
These are the standards that student nurses are required to achieve and represent the skills knowledge and attributes that all student nurses must achieve to become registered practitioners.
The outcome statements for each platform have been designed to apply across all four fields of nursing practice (Adult, Child Health, Learning Disabilities, Mental Health)
Proficiencies for nurses are grouped under 7 platforms and 2 Annexes:
7 Platforms
Platform 1 - Being an accountable professional
Platform 2 - Promoting health and preventing ill health
Platform 3 - Assessing needs and planning care
Platform 4 - Providing and evaluating care
Platform 5 - Leading and managing nursing care and working in teams
Platform 6 - Improving safety and quality of care
Platform 7 - Coordinating care
Annexe A
Specifies the communication and management skills required
Annexe B
Specifies the nursing procedures which registered nurses must demonstrate being able to perform safely
Together these reflect what the NMC expects a newly registered nurse to know and be capable of doing safely and proficiently at the start of their career.
These are the standards that student midwives are required to achieve and represent the skills knowledge and attributes that all student midwives must achieve to become registered practitioners.
Proficiencies for midwives are grouped under 6 Domains:
Domain 1: Being an accountable autonomous professional midwife
Domain 2: Safe and effective midwifery care: promoting and providing continuity of care and carer
Domain 3: Universal care for all women and newborn infants
Domain 4: Additional care for women and newborn infants with complications
Domain 5: Promoting Excellence: the midwife as colleague, scholar and leader
Domain 6: The midwife as skilled practitioner- this domain specifies the skills that a newly registered midwife must be able to perform safely.
Together these reflect what the NMC expects a newly registered midwife to know and be capable of doing safely and proficiently at the start of their career.
There is another NMC standard that you will need to be aware of in your role as Practice Supervisor /Practice Assessor if you are supporting a return to practice student: Return to practice standards
Post-registration Programmes
As discussed above Parts 1 and part 2 of the NMC 2018 standards are relevant for all nursing and midwifery programmes and part 3 is programme specific
These standards were published in January 2019 and include the legal requirements, entry requirements, recognition of prior learning, length of programme, methods of assessment and information on the award given.
The standards that set out how nurses and midwives can achieve prescriber status, how prescribing programmes are run and what constitutes safe and effective prescribing practice are set out on the
NMC site
Further information about prescribing programmes can be found on the
NMC website
This booklet provides the standards of proficiency and standards of education required for specialist community public health nursing education programmes and were published in April 2004.