Nursing times

As the NMC prepares to revalidate 700,000 nurses, starting in April 2016, we speak to Lou Sommereux from the British Association of Cosmetic Nurses about the key role the association has played in the pilot scheme The revalidation of 700,000 nurses is the biggest and most important milestone in the history of modern nursing as it underpins the creation of a safety culture for patient care in line with its new NMC code. Evidence of Continual Professional Development (CPD) and having a Professional Development Discussion (PDD) are just some of the criteria required for the revalidation of a nurse’s registration, plus having a line manager or the equivalent confirm also by discussion that all the criteria are met. The NMC approached the British Association of Cosmetic Nurses, asking if the board would lead the pilot scheme for aesthetic nurses. Lou Sommereux, who recently presented the BACN’s work on revalidation to nurses from other specialities at the NMC, tells us why this is such a pivotal moment for aesthetic nursing…. AESTHETIC MEDICINE: WHY HAS THIS BEEN SUCH A LANDMARK/IMPORTANT STEP FOR THE BACN AS AN ASSOCIATION? Lou Sommereux: The BACN board was very excited about this opportunity to showcase aesthetic nurses to their regulatory body. The NMC, in the BACN‘s infancy, were not our greatest fans and it has taken years of hard work to establish a positive professional relationship. Therefore it was imperative we were involved to finally establish legitimacy for aesthetics as a nursing speciality. In line with the pilot study Ipsos Mori and KMPG are conducting comprehensive surveys on the results of the pilot. The BACN recognised that this was another opportunity to really get the revalidation criteria right for aesthetic nurses via the pilotees feedback. Members of the BACN work in multiple settings; self-employed, independent, NHS so the revalidation criteria appeared complex. AM: YOU RECENTLY WENT TO THE NMC TO GIVE A PRESENTATION. WHAT WAS THIS ABOUT AND HOW DID IT FEEL TO BE FLYING THE FLAG FOR AESTHETIC NURSES? LS: Board member Sharron Brown and I have worked closely together over the last six months meeting the NMC very regularly and the other 35 chosen UK organisations also part of the revalidation study. Through this we have been delighted to develop our association’s relationship with PIAPA. The BACN were chosen and invited by the NMC, with two other organisation representatives, to present to a packed congress of over 150 senior nurses hosted by the Nursing Times, on our experience in recruiting and supporting members through the revalidation programme including positives and negatives. It was a fantastic opportunity to share a brief history of the BACN and how our regional groups are an integral feature of our continual development, peer support and an area for professional reflection. Importantly the congress was surprised that we were both volunteers and that we had had such a successful uptake of pilotees for the pilot study. But also that we had no funded road shows or funded designated workshops for the pilotees. The BACN super meetings were very important. We have had over the last six months and at each one a motivational revalidation presentation was discussed. The Congress presentation has truly given the BACN presence on the NHS and private organisations map. AM: IT HAS BEEN AN UPHILL BATTLE TO GET AESTHETIC NURSING RECOGNISED AS A SPECIALITY - HOW HAS THE BACN DONE THIS AND HOW DOES IT FEEL FOR ALL THIS HARD WORK TO BE FINALLY COMING TO FRUITION? LS: Through the Board’s determination, hard work, passion and commitment the BACN has grown from a fledgling association of bringing cosmetic nurses together to be heard locally and nationally. It was and still is nurse led with an amazing membership of professional expertise and competency. The educational projects and working parties it is involved in are a long list. The BACN has won the Aesthetic Awards for Best Association for four consecutive years, to be recognised like this by our peers is just fantastic. With a CEO now at its helm the BACN has due to demand opened its membership to medical peers as well as overseas nurses offering affiliated memberships. The BACN workshops and conference are calendar landmarks due to the enthusiasm of its members. AM: WHAT KEY THINGS SHOULD AESTHETIC NURSES KNOW ABOUT WHEN IT COMES TO REVALIDATION AND HOW IS THE BACN SUPPORTING ITS MEMBERS IN THIS? LS: Revalidation is not onerous it will be a continuum for nurses in all aspects of nursing, it is practical and achievable with normal IT. It will go live in April 2016 and will be conducted on line, the first step is to register online with the NMC. Briefly, second is to identify who the confirmer and professional development discussion will be with as there is specific criteria for this. The five reflective accounts need not be academic essays but can be a major evidence of support with individual professional development, all five need to be mapped to the new NMC code. Supportive evidence of working hours and CPD must be identified and recorded. We opened a closed Facebook page for the revalidation pilotees as a central source for ongoing support and updating the information that Sharron and myself brought back from our regular NMC meetings, we encouraged pilot buddies and peer support. This page will be used as a future source of reference for registrants when they need to revalidate. We quickly recognised communication was vital to the success of the pilot and using social media was pivotal to this. We have plans to be making a short interactive video on how to revalidate – this will be embedded in the BACN website as support to members will be needed for a minimum of three years. It has been a fantastic experience personally and for raising the BACN‘s status within the NMC and peer recognition by senior nurses of the UK. The closed Facebook page idea is being taken up by the funded revalidation NHS leaders as a self-support source and the NMC and Nursing Times are very interested in obtaining the afore mentioned BACN video within their official websites.