NMC Q&A PDF

**Week 1** **Summary: Role of the Nurse and Professional Standards** The role of a nurse is multifaceted and plays a crucial part in the healthcare system. Nursing is a profession that requires a strong commitment to patient care, adherence to professional standards, and continuous learning. Here...

**Week 1** **Summary: Role of the Nurse and Professional Standards** The role of a nurse is multifaceted and plays a crucial part in the healthcare system. Nursing is a profession that requires a strong commitment to patient care, adherence to professional standards, and continuous learning. Here are some key aspects of the role of a nurse and the importance of adhering to professional standards: Patient Care: - Direct Patient Care: Nurses are responsible for providing direct care to patients. This includes assessing patient needs, administering medications, dressing wounds, and monitoring vital signs. - Patient Advocacy: Nurses often serve as advocates for patients, ensuring their rights are upheld, and their needs are met. - Patient Education: Nurses educate patients and their families about health conditions, treatments, and preventive measures. Collaboration: - Interdisciplinary Teamwork: Nurses work closely with other healthcare professionals, such as doctors, therapists, and social workers, to provide comprehensive care. - Communication: Effective communication is essential for collaboration and ensuring that all members of the healthcare team are on the same page regarding patient care. Ethical and Legal Responsibilities: - Professional Ethics: Nurses are bound by a code of ethics that outlines principles such as patient confidentiality, honesty, and patient-centred care. - Legal Obligations: Nurses must adhere to legal standards related to patient care, including documentation, informed consent, and reporting of adverse events or abuse. Professional Standards: - Competency: Nurses are expected to maintain a high level of competence in their practice. They must continually update their knowledge and skills to provide safe and effective care. - Continuing Education: The NMC require nurses to engage in Appraisal and revalidation. This requires nurses to engage in education and professional development beyond qualification. - Scope of Practice: Nurses must work within the scope of their practice, which varies depending on their education and current competency levels. They should not perform tasks outside of their scope of practice. Advocacy for Health Promotion and Prevention: - Nurses play a vital role in promoting health and preventing illness in communities through initiatives such as vaccination programs, health education, and community outreach. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving: - Nurses often encounter complex and rapidly changing situations. They must use critical thinking skills to assess and respond to patient needs effectively. Cultural Competency: - Cultural competence is essential for providing patient-centred care. Nurses should be sensitive to cultural differences and adapt their care accordingly. Quality Improvement: - Nurses are involved in efforts to improve the quality of care. They participate in data collection, analysis, and implementation of evidence-based practices to enhance patient outcomes. Emotional Support: - Nurses provide emotional support to patients and their families during challenging times, such as illness, injury, or end-of-life care. Leadership and Management: - Some nurses take on leadership roles, such as nurse managers or nurse administrators, where they oversee nursing teams, budgets, and healthcare units. Research and Evidence-Based Practice: - Many nurses are engaged in research to advance nursing practice and improve patient care. They also use evidence-based guidelines to inform their practice. In summary, nurses have a multifaceted role in healthcare, encompassing direct patient care, advocacy, adherence to professional standards, and collaboration within interdisciplinary teams. Upholding professional standards is essential to ensure the safety and well-being of patients and to maintain the integrity of the nursing profession.  - **What does NMC stand for?** - Nursing and Midwifery Council - **What does the NMC do and why do they exist?** - Independent regulator for nurses, midwives and nursing associates. The Nursing and Midwifery Council exists to protect the public. We do this by making sure that only those who meet our requirements are allowed to practise as a nurse or midwife in the UK - **What is the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Code of Conduct?** - \-\-- - Professional standards of practice and behaviour for nurses, midwives and nursing associates. Aims to protect the public, by ensuring that only those who meet NMC requirements are allowed to practice as a nurse or midwife in the United Kingdom (UK) - **Why is the code important to patients and service users, registered nurses, employers and educators?** - NHS - The code of conduct sets out the minimum requirements of how healthcare support workers and adult social care workers should behave a work. It supports the organisations in providing safe, effective, and compassionate healthcare, care, and support to you and your family. - Student Nurses - The Code states that all students are provided with\ safe, effective, and inclusive learning experiences. Each learning environment has the governance and resources needed to deliver education and training. - Patients and service users, and those who care for them, can use it to provide feedback to nurses, midwives and nursing associates about the care they receive. - Nurses: Those on our register can use it to promote safe and effective practice in their place of work. - Employer organisations should support their staff in upholding the standards in their professional Code as part of providing the quality and safety expected by service users and regulators. - Educators can use the Code to help students understand what it means to be a registered professional and how keeping to the Code helps to achieve that. - **What are the 4 themes of the NMC Code of Conduct?** - Prioritise people, practice effectively, preserve safety and promote professionalism and trust - **What does "prioritise people" mean?** - You put the interests of people using or needing nursing or midwifery services first. You make their care and safety your main concern and make sure that their dignity is preserved, and their needs are recognised, assessed and responded to. You make sure that those receiving care are treated with respect, that their rights are upheld and that any discriminatory attitudes and behaviours towards those receiving care are challenged. - **What are the 5 main points in prioritising people?** - Treat people as individuals and uphold their dignity. - Listen to people and respond to their preferences and concerns. - Make sure that people's physical, social and psychological needs are assessed and responded to. - Act in the best interests of people always. - Respect people's right to privacy and\ confidentiality - **What does "practice effectively" mean?** - You assess need and deliver or advise on treatment or give help (including preventative or rehabilitative care) without too much delay, to the best of your abilities, based on best available evidence. You communicate effectively, keeping clear and accurate records and sharing skills, knowledge and experience where appropriate. You reflect and act on any feedback you receive to improve your practice. - **What are the main points in practicing effectively?** - Always practise in line with the best available evidence. - Communicate clearly. - Work co-operatively. - Share your skills, knowledge and experience for the benefit of people receiving care and your colleagues. - Keep clear and accurate records relevant to your practice. - Be accountable for your decisions to delegate tasks. - **What does "preserve safety" mean?** - You make sure that patient and public safety is not affected. You work within the limits of your competence, exercising your professional 'duty of candour'1and raising concerns immediately whenever you come across situations that put patients or public safety at risk. You take necessary action to deal with any concerns where appropriate. - **What are the main points in preserving safety?** - Recognise and work within your scope of competence and skill set. - Be open with service users about all aspects of care and treatment,\ including when any mistakes or harm occur. - Offer help if an emergency arises in your practice setting or anywhere else. - Act without delay if there is a risk to patient safety or public protection. - Raise concerns if you believe a person is vulnerable or at risk. - Advise on, prescribe, supply, dispense or administer medicines within the\ limits of your training and competence. - Be aware of, and reduce as far as possible, any potential for harm\ associated with your practice - **What does "promoting professionalism and trust" mean?** - You always uphold the reputation of your profession. You should display a personal commitment to the standards of practice and behaviour set out in the Code. You should be a model of integrity and leadership for others to aspire to. This should lead to trust and confidence in the professions from patients, people receiving care, other health and care professionals and the public. - **What are the main points in promoting professionalism and trust?** - Always uphold the reputation of your profession. - Uphold your position as a registered nurse. - Fulfil all registration requirements. - Cooperate with all investigations and audits. - Respond to any complaints made against you professionally. - Provide leadership to make sure people's well-being is\ protected and to improve their experiences of the health and\ care system **Caring with Confidence: The Code in Action** - **What is caring with confidence?** - Caring with Confidence is a series of bite-sized animations about key aspects of your role as a nursing or midwifery professional, and how the Code can support you. - **What is caring with accountability?** - Being accountable means being open to challenge. It means being held to account for your actions, and being able to confidently explain how you used your professional judgement to make decisions -- even in complex situations. - **What is caring with professional judgement?** - Nursing judgment is the mixture of education, experience, and insight that allows nurses to execute the best action possible on behalf of patients. As a nurse, midwife or nursing associate, you use your professional judgement to make decisions. You use it every day, in everything you do. Instinctively and confidently - **What is caring with Delegation?** - No-one can do everything on their own. So, we need to know how to delegate. - **What is caring with speaking up?** - Nurses, midwives and nursing associates are often best placed to recognise things that might create risk or cause harm. We want you to feel confident about raising concerns and speak up if you see something you feel isn't right. - **What is caring with being inclusive and challenging discrimination?** - Everyone has the right to dignity and respect, and to feel included. Our animation supports the professionals on our register to feel confident about challenging discrimination wherever they see it. - **What is caring with person- centred care?** - Kindness and respect mean different things to different people. That's why it matters to be person-centred. Being person-centred means thinking about what makes each person unique, and doing everything you can to put their needs first. - **What is caring with end-of-life care?** - Everyone A person's loss is easier to bear if they know a skilled professional cared for their loved one with genuine compassion. And that as a result, their loved one was comfortable, reassured, and able to make choices for as long as possible. Enabling someone to die with dignity is a privilege. Not everyone can do it -- but as a nurse, midwife or nursing associate, you can. **Professional Communication, Confidentiality and Information Governance**  Crucial aspects of professional communication, confidentiality, and information governance within the role as a healthcare professional. These elements are fundamental in providing effective patient care, maintaining trust, and upholding ethical standards in the healthcare setting. Professional Communication: Effective communication is at the heart of quality healthcare. Throughout the day, we will discuss how communicating clearly, empathetically, and respectfully with patients, their families, and colleagues have positive outcomes.  This includes active listening, providing information in understandable terms, and addressing questions or concerns promptly. Effective communication fosters trust allows for better collaboration among the healthcare team, and ultimately leads to improved patient outcomes. Confidentiality: Maintaining patient confidentiality is a non-negotiable ethical duty. You will have to rigorously uphold patient privacy by only sharing information on a need-to-know basis. This involves safeguarding electronic health records, securing physical documents, and being mindful of conversations in public areas. Patients should have confidence that their personal and medical information will be always kept confidential. Information Governance: In today\'s digital age, information governance is critical for protecting sensitive patient data and ensuring its integrity. You will have to adhere to the established national and local protocols and policies for data security and management. This includes accurately documenting patient information, following secure data transfer procedures, and reporting any breaches or suspicious activities promptly. Information governance not only safeguards patient information but also contributes to the overall efficiency and quality of healthcare services. By focusing on professional communication, confidentiality, and information governance. With the aim to provide the highest standard of care to patients while respecting their privacy and maintaining the trust they place in healthcare professional. **What is confidentiality?** - Confidentiality in healthcare is the practice of keeping a patient\'s\ personal information private. This includes information about a\ patient\'s health, care needs, lifestyle, and family. Confidentiality refers to the obligations of individuals and institutions to use information that has been disclosed to them and is under their control appropriately **What does the NMC code say about confidentiality?** - Respect people's right to privacy and confidentiality, as a nurse, midwife or nursing associate, you owe a duty of confidentiality to all those who are receiving care. Respect that a person's right to privacy and confidentiality continues after they have died. Share necessary information with other health and care professionals and agencies only when the interests of patient safety and public protection override the need for confidentiality. Cooperate with the media only when it is appropriate to do so, and then always protecting the confidentiality and dignity of people receiving treatment or care. **What is the NHS duty of confidentiality?** - There should be no use or disclosure of any confidential patient information for any purpose other than the direct clinical care of the patient to whom it relates, however there are some broad exceptions. The patient explicitly consents to the use or disclosure. **Confidentiality Rules** - Confidential information about patients/ service users should be treated respectfully and confidentially. Confidential information should be shared when it is needed for effective and safe patient care. - If information is shared for the benefit of the community this should be anonymised. - Patients/ service users can object to you are sharing their confidential\ information and this should be respected. - Policies, systems, and procedures should be in place to ensure the rules of confidentiality are followed. Necessary, Proportionate, Relevant , Adequate , Accurate , Timely , Secure **Information Governance** **What is Information Governance?** - It is how information is managed and shared. We have a duty to share information when providing individual care. Important as nurses to protect confidentiality **Why do we share information?** - Information sharing is important. Helps us and our colleagues to make informed decisions. Ensures that patients receive safe care. Smooth transition. Enhances effective and efficient service. **What is General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)?** - The Data Protection Act 2018 is the United Kingdom's\ (UK) implementation of the General Data Protection\ Regulation (GDPR). Framework for information sharing rather than a barrier to\ sharing personal data. Strict rules apply called data protection principles **What are the 8 Caldicott Principles?** - Justify the purpose(s) for confidential information. - Use confidential information only when necessary. - Use the minimum necessary confidential information. - Access to confidential information should be on a strict need-to-know basis. - Everyone with access to confidential information should be aware of their\ responsibilities. - Comply with the law. - The duty to share information for individual care is as important as the duty\ to protect patient confidentiality. - Service users and patients must be informed about how their confidential\ information is used. Effective Communication and Assession Reviewing and improving your communication skills is a valuable endeavour that can positively impact both your personal and professional life. Here are steps to help you assess and enhance your communication abilities: 1. **Self-Assessment**: Start by reflecting on your communication experiences and identifying areas where you believe you excel and areas where you could improve. Consider factors like verbal communication, written communication, listening skills, and nonverbal communication. 2. **Seek Feedback**: Reach out to friends, family members, colleagues, or mentors and ask for their honest feedback on your communication. They may provide insights and observations you may not have noticed on your own. 3. **Set Clear Objectives**: Determine your communication goals. Are you looking to improve public speaking, conflict resolution, or written communication? Having clear objectives will help you focus your efforts. 4. **Communication Styles**: Familiarize yourself with different communication styles, such as assertive, passive, and aggressive. Understand your own style and learn how to adapt it to different situations. 5. **Active Listening**: Focus on improving your listening skills. Active listening involves not only hearing but also understanding, remembering, and responding to what others say. Practice being fully present in conversations without interrupting. 6. **Nonverbal Communication**: Pay attention to your body language, facial expressions, and gestures. Ensure they align with your verbal communication. For example, maintain eye contact and open body language to convey attentiveness and engagement. 7. **Vocabulary and Language**: Expand your vocabulary and improve your language proficiency. Use appropriate language for different audiences and contexts. Avoid jargon or technical terms if they might not be understood. 8. **Empathy**: Cultivate empathy, which allows you to understand and relate to others\' feelings and perspectives. Empathetic communication fosters stronger connections with people. 9. **Practice**: The more you practice, the better you become. Engage in various communication scenarios, such as giving presentations, participating in group discussions, and writing emails or reports. 10. **Feedback Loop**: Establish a feedback loop where you continuously seek input and assess your progress. Regularly review your communication goals and make adjustments as needed. 11. **Courses and Workshops**: Consider taking courses or workshops on communication skills. Many institutions and online platforms offer courses on topics like public speaking, conflict resolution, and effective writing. 12. **Role Models**: Identify individuals known for their exceptional communication skills and study their techniques. Learn from their experiences and apply what you learn in your interactions. 13. **Video Recording**: Record yourself during presentations or conversations. Review the recordings to identify areas for improvement in your speech, body language, and overall delivery. 14. **Books and Resources**: Explore books, articles, and online resources dedicated to improving communication skills. They can provide valuable insights and strategies. Remember that improving communication skills is an ongoing process, and there\'s always room for growth. Be patient with yourself and celebrate your progress along the way. Consistent effort and a willingness to adapt will lead to enhanced communication abilities over time. Professional communication, confidentiality, and communication are essential aspects of healthcare. These principles ensure effective, ethical, and responsible interactions within the healthcare setting. Let\'s explore each of these concepts in more detail: **Professional Communication**: Professional communication refers to the exchange of information, ideas, or messages within a formal or workplace setting. It involves using language and methods appropriate to the specific context and audience. Effective professional communication typically includes the following elements: - **Clarity**: Messages should be clear, concise, and easily understood by the intended audience. - **Active Listening**: Professionals should actively listen to others, seeking to understand their perspective and needs. - **Respect**: Communication should be respectful and considerate of diverse perspectives and backgrounds. - **Empathy**: Understanding and empathizing with others\' emotions and concerns can improve communication. - **Nonverbal Communication**: Body language, gestures, and facial expressions play a crucial role in conveying messages. - **Feedback**: Constructive feedback is essential for improvement and growth. - **Adaptability**: Being able to adapt communication styles to different situations and audiences is key. **Confidentiality**: Confidentiality is the ethical and legal duty to safeguard sensitive or private information. In professional settings, confidentiality is vital to protect individuals\' rights, privacy, and sensitive data. Common examples of confidentiality requirements include: - **Nurse -Patient Confidentiality**: Healthcare professionals are bound by laws and ethics to keep patient information confidential. Violating confidentiality can have serious legal and ethical consequences. **Communication in Confidential Settings**: When communicating in confidential settings, such as a medical consultation or legal representation, it\'s crucial to follow specific guidelines: - **Informed Consent**: Explain to individuals what information will be kept confidential and what exceptions may apply (e.g., mandatory reporting of certain issues like child abuse). - **Secure Communication**: Use secure and private channels for communication, such as encrypted emails or phone lines. - **Access Control**: Limit access to confidential information to only those who need it to perform their duties. - **Record Keeping**: Maintain accurate records of any confidential information shared or accessed. - **Data Protection Laws**: Ensure compliance with relevant data protection laws, such as GDPR in Europe. - In summary, professional communication, confidentiality, and communication ethics are essential components of various professions. Adhering to these principles fosters trust, maintains privacy, and ensures responsible conduct in professional settings. Professionals should be aware of the specific guidelines and regulations that apply to their workplace and continually strive to improve their communication skills. **Sources** - Nursing and Midwifery Council - Data Protection and Freedom of Information - - Levett-Jones, Tracy, and Kerry Reid-Searl. The Clinical Placement : An Essential Guide for Nursing Students, Elsevier Australia, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central,. - Williams, R. (2017) Information governance laws and principles. Nursing management (Harrow, London, England). \[Online\] 24 (5), 14--14.\ Available at: - Jaber A, Ta\'an WF, Aldalaykeh MK, Al‐Shannaq YM, Oweidat IA, Mukattash TL. The perception of shared governance and engagement in decision‐making among nurses. Nurs Forum. 2022;57:1169‐1175. Available at: - Ladis H and Zolkefli Y (2021). 'Healthcare Students' Views on Protecting Patients' Privacy and Confidentiality'.International Journal Of Nursing Education,Vol.13, (4) p.7 -13.Available at: - Schapiro N.A and Mihaly L.K (2021). 'The 21st Century Cures Act and Challenges to Adolescent Confidentiality'. Journal Of Pediatric Health Care Vol.35 (4), p.439-442. Available at:\ - Claus Sixtus J and Eg M (2020). 'Confidentiality breaches in hospital: the experiences of young people and parents'. Journal Of Pediatric Nursing Vol.69, p.18-23. Available at:\ - Castle N (2019). 'A matter of confidentiality'. British Journal Of Nursing, Vol.28 (4), p.218-218. Available at:\ - Finch J (2019). 'Nurses' duty of confidentiality towards patients.' British Journal of Community Nursing, Vol.24 (8), p.400-403. Available at:\