How to Work as a nurse or midwife in the UK

[Kunle Emmanuel]

All nurses and midwives who want to work in the UK must register with the NMC. NMC register consists of three parts.

• Nurses
• Midwives
• Specialist community public health nurses (SCPHN).

You can apply to be on the nurses or midwives parts of the register, as long as you meet our standards. If you’ve trained as a general nurse, you should apply for registration with NMC as an adult nurse. If you want to register on more than one part of the register or field of practice, you should apply for each part/field at the same time. Once you’re registered, you can work in the National Health Service (NHS) or private health care.

English language requirements

When you apply to register with the NMC they need whether to know you can communicate effectively in English. Communication is defined as speaking, reading, listening and writing. You must demonstrate competence in these four skills. Detailed guidance is given below.

[Kunle Emmanuel]

Evidence: 1

International English Language Test System (IELTS)

Nurses who have completed an IELTS academic examination must provide an IELTS certificate that confirms:

at least 7.0 in the listening reading and speaking

at least 6.5 in the writing

at least 7.0 overall.

Nurses can also take two IELTS tests, in which case the scores in both sittings are above 6.5 and they achieve 7.0 or higher in all four fields when the results of both sittings are viewed together. Both tests must be within 6 months.


As per the new NMC Update on 28/11/2018: Nurses and midwives will still be required to achieve a minimum overall level of 7 in the test. However, a level 6.5 in writing will be accepted alongside a level 7 in reading, listening and speaking.

[Kunle Emmanuel]

Evidence:2

A recent Pre-registration Nursing or Midwifery qualification which was taught and examined in English

Nurses who wish to rely on evidence that they have been recently trained in English, they must be able to provide evidence that:

• The course was taught and examined in English.
  The programme demonstrates their ability in reading, writing, speaking and listening in a range of environments.
  They will need to provide us with the following:
  A university transcript of training
  A letter of reference from your training institution (or the training institution can complete sections 8a and 8b on the form to accompany their transcript of training).

The evidence must confirm that the programme was composed of at least 50 percent clinical interaction. At least 75 percent of that must be with patients, service users, their families and other healthcare professionals must have taken place in English.

Please note, by recent, we mean evidence related to English language competence that is less than two years old at the point of making an application to the NMC. The British council recognizes two years as the accepted period for an individual to remain proficient in English if the language is used regularly. Proficiency in English deteriorates after two years if it is not used on a regular basis.

NMC is currently reviewing this route, we encourage nurses to use evidence 1 route for NMC registration.

[Kunle Emmanuel]

Evidence:3

Registration and practice of at least one year in a country where English is the first and native language and an English language assessment was required for registration.

[Kunle Emmanuel]

The application process

Eligibility

This is the first stage of the application process. You’ll need to complete an online self-assessment, which will confirm if you’re eligible to apply. As part of this, you’ll be asked to confirm that you meet our minimum requirements including good health and good character. You’ll also need to confirm that you understand you will be asked to provide us with supporting documents later in the process.

If you complete these declarations and can’t provide any supporting evidence later on, we won’t progress your application and any costs you’ve incurred won’t be refunded.

Test of competence part one: the computer based test (CBT)

Once you’ve passed the eligibility stage, you’ll be asked to sit for the CBT. This is a test of your theoretical practice-based knowledge. The test format is a multiple choice test and can be taken in test centres around the world. You’ll have two attempts at this test and you’ll need to pass within six months of completing your eligibility. If you’ve not completed the CBT within six months of completing your eligibility it will expire and you’ll need to complete the online self assessment again. If you’re unsuccessful in both your CBT attempts, you’ll need to wait six months in order to restart the application process. Our test provider, Pearson VUE, administers their own test fee in agreement with us. You’ll need to contact Pearson VUE directly to book and pay for your test.

Stage 1 - Computer Based Test (CBT) – at Pearson VUE Test centres around the world

Multiple choices
120 questions

4 hours to complete
60% score overall to pass
90% of critical questions must be answered correctly (related to patient safety)
Maximum 2 re-sits

Source:https://www.envertiz.com/overseas-nurse ... ation-info