Professional Support

The ANMF (SA Branch) is committed to the provision of professional and industrial support for nursing and midwifery members in South Australia.

We are the voice for nurses, midwives and personal care assistants in advocating progressive positions and responding to issues at the local and federal level.

We continuously work towards the recognition and advancement of the essential role of nurses, midwives and personal care assistants in the provision of health and aged care.

We represent the interests of members across a wide range of issues that impact the nursing and midwifery professions and subsequently the health and wellbeing of the community.

On behalf of members, we coordinate the development of ANMF (SA Branch) policies, position statements, guidelines, reports, issues papers and professional practice standards. These publications are developed in consultation with members and are primarily to assist ANMF (SA Branch) members in their day to day nursing and midwifery practice; whilst also articulating the ANMF (SA Branch) view to local and federal government, other health professionals and the community.

The ANMF (SA Branch) is also a member of the ANF Federal Professional Advisory Committee and through this collaboration informs the development of ANF Federal Policy and responds to key issues in the nursing, midwifery and personal care assistants health care agenda.

By using all these mechanisms, we act as a strong voice in advocating progressive positions and responding to issues at the local and federal agenda for debate, consensus and resolution.

ANMF (SA Branch) – BPSO® Australia Host Journey

In 2012, Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) (SA Branch) embarked on a partnership with the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) and were endorsed to become the 2nd International RNAO Best Practice Spotlight Organization (BPSO) Host.

Our role as the Australian BPSO® Host is to:
•   transfer knowledge through provision of implementation of evidence based practice learning institutes and workshops in Australia;
•   provide a link to the global BPSO® collaborative and support network;
•   mentor site implementation teams; manage BPSO® applications and contracts in Australia;
•   assist with evaluation activities (Including NQuIRE® database); and
•   develop and support BPSO®/Champion networks across Australia whilst also collaborating with established international networks.

Learn more

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and why it is Important

As part of our registration each year, all nurses and midwives must meet the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia’s (NMBA) Registration Standards.

One of these Standards is Continuing Professional Development (CPD) which sets the minimum number of hours of continuing professional development relevant to their area of practice. All nurses and midwives need to complete these hours within each registration period.

So, what is CPD or Continuing Professional Development?

AHPRA define CPD for Health professionals as “Continuing professional development (CPD) is how health practitioners maintain, improve and broaden their knowledge, expertise and competence, and develop the personal and professional qualities required throughout their professional lives.

Health practitioners who are engaged in any form of practice are required to participate regularly in CPD that is relevant to their scope of practice in order to maintain, develop, update and enhance their knowledge, skills and performance to help them deliver appropriate and safe care.¹

All nurses and midwives need to complete a minimum of 20 hours of CPD but for those registered as both a nurse and a midwife then 40 hours are required, 20 hours of CPD relevant to each area of practice. AHPRA states though, if CPD activities are relevant to both nursing and midwifery professions, those activities may be counted as evidence for both nursing and midwifery CPD hours. The activities should be relevant to your context of practice and improve your knowledge, expertise and competence as a nurse and midwife.²

Nurses and midwives with scheduled medicines endorsement or those with a Nurse Practitioner endorsement are also required to do a further 10 hours relating to prescribing and administration of medicines, diagnostics investigations, and consultation and referral.

Figure 1 has been taken from the NMBA CPD fact sheet and illustrates the CPD hours required by the differing Registration Types.³

Figure 1.

Source: Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia - Fact sheet:Continuing professional development (nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au)

CPD hours can be gained from a variety of ways, these include attending training at work, any accredited courses, tertiary and vocational that relate to your practice, workshops, conferences, forums or seminars. Discussion groups can also be used if they issue a certificate of completion and self-directed or other structured learning activities. Reading nursing articles that are relevant to your area of practice can also count.

How should I record my CPD and why do I need evidence that I have completed the required hours?

Any certificates of completion that you receive from any learning activities can be used as documentation to evidence your CPD.

It is a good idea to create a learning plan to identify your learnings at the beginning of a new registration year and following each activity you should provide evidence of the outcome achieved from the learning.

The Nursing and Midwifery Board state - planning your CPD is an opportunity for you to:

review best-practice standards or evidence-based practice to enable you to evaluate and improve your level of competency, treatment plan or service delivery
identify your limitations or deficits to improve your practice to meet current standards using evidence-based practice or best-practice standards, and
identify how you could further develop competency or strengths in areas of particular interest or aptitude.

Reflecting on what you have learnt after each activity helps to improve your learning. Reflection helps you think about what you have learned and question your thoughts.

Deakin University describe the benefits of reflecting on learning as:

Examining what you have learned and how you have learned it.
Demonstrating how your thinking grows and develops over time
Assisting with making connections between what you already know and what you are learning
Helping you learn from mistakes by identifying how you would do things differently next time
Encouraging you to become a reflective practitioner in your future career ⁴

Records of CPD need to be kept for 5 years and there are a number of tools available for you to use to keep a record. The Nursing and Midwifery Board have developed a self-directed CPD evidence record for download or through the Australian Nursing & Midwifery Journal there is a free CPD App that you can access. To access search Ausmed in your app store.

Notes that you keep as evidence of any learning activities must show a comprehensive summary of the key points of the review and show what you have learnt from the activity and how it relates to your practice.

Nurses and Midwives should be aware that every registration period a random selection of registrants are selected by the NMBA to be audited.

The purpose of auditing is to ensure that the nurses and midwives re-registering are meeting the requirements of the CPD Standard.

Those being audited will be informed by a letter in the mail from AHPRA and will include a checklist detailing the evidence that they need to support that you have met the registration standard as per the Declaration that we make on registration.

Newly Registered Nurses and Midwives

If your new registration falls during a registration period, then the amount of CPD that you are required to complete can be adjusted pro rata.

Figure 2 taken from the NMBA CPD Guidelines illustrates the Pro rata CPD hours required according to the number of months that you have held your registration.⁵

Figure 2.

The same applies to a Nurse or Midwife who gain an endorsement part way through a registration period.

Figure 3 illustrates the Pro rata CPD hours that must be completed according to the months the endorsement has been held.⁵

Figure 3.

For some, gaining CPD can sometimes be a challenge if accessing courses or training through your work is difficult but remember there are many ways that CPD can be gained.

ANMEC, the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Education Centre, a service of the ANMFSA, offer a number of CPD options both online and face to face. All of your results from the online courses that you complete will be recorded in an ePortfolio so gives you easy access to the evidence you need for the Board if you are selected to be audited.

Further information can be found at CPD Online (anmfsa.org.au)

References

Applying for a role in nursing/midwifery?

Whether you are just starting out in nursing/midwifery or seeking to progress in your existing career, making a good first impression with your prospective employer is critical.

Here are our top tips to help give you the best chance of success, firstly at securing an interview and then selling yourself to recruiters on the day: