Full refund on all bookings cancelled more than 5 working days prior to the course date or an option to transfer to another event. For cancellations 5 days before the course due date a full credit to transfer onto a course at a future date will be offered. For non-attendance, no refund/transfer. If a course is cancelled due to insufficient numbers, a full online refund will be issued.
Continuing professional development refers to any activity that contributes to your professional development as a nurse or midwife. There are many other terms that are related, for example, continuing competence, staff development, continuing professional education and lifelong learning (National Council for the Professional Development of Nursing and Midwifery 2009). In addition to government legislation, regulatory bodies, employers service users and society in general, the Nurses and Midwives Act, 2011 is one of the recent drivers to require nurses and midwives to demonstrate continuing professional development and your competence to practice as a nurse or midwife.
Part 11 of this legislation places responsibilities on Registrants, the Board and employers in relation to the Maintenance of Professional Competence. Continuing professional development will form part of the professional competence schemes that the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland will be required to develop. This has not been developed yet and the Board intend to undertake an extensive consultation with all stakeholders including nurses and midwives as Registrants of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland. Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland on-line Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Directory Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) accessible at: http://www.nursingboard.ie).
Continuing professional development refers to your professional development after obtaining your initial nursing and/or midwifery qualification. The aim of participating in continuing professional development activities is to ensure, firstly, that knowledge and competence acquired during undergraduate and postgraduate education programmes remain current and, secondly, that new information and evidence are translated into practice (Nurses Board of Victoria 2009 and NCPDNM 2009).
The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (formally An Bord Altranais) defines competence as the ability of the registered nurse or midwife to practise safely and effectively, fulfilling his/her professional responsibility within his/her scope of practice (An Bord Altranais 2005a and 2007a).
The National Qualifications Authority of Ireland defines competence as "the effective and creative demonstration and deployment of knowledge and skill in human situations. Such situations could comprise general social and civic ones, as well as specific occupational ones. Competence draws on attitudes, emotions, values and sense of self-efficacy of the learner, as well as on declarative and procedural knowledge" (National Qualifications Authority of Ireland on-line glossary).
Formal and informal activities can be considered under the heading continuing professional development activities.
Note: The above list is in alphabetical order and not in order of importance or value
Source: National Council for the Professional Development of Nursing and Midwifery (2009), Guidelines for Portfolio Development for Nurses and Midwives – 3rd Edition.
The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland awards Continuing Education Units to the CPD and in-service education and training programmes that meets the Boards approval. One Continuing Education Unit (CEU) is awarded to approximately every 40 minutes to one hour of teaching and learning activity. These CEUs do not have an academic rating (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland. Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland on-line Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Directory Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) accessible at: http://www.nursingboard.ie).