What are participatory CPD hours?

A common question asked by Nurses is what does the NMC mean when they differentiate between CPD hours?

NMC revalidation requirements state that over a course of 3 years, the Nurse should have undertaken a minimum of 15 regular CPD hours and 20 participatory CPD hours.

So, in order to define participatory CPD hours we need to define what the NMC means by regular CPD hours

What are regular CPD hours?

Regular CPD hours according to the NMC website on revalidation is that amount of time spent in passive learning. For example, attending a lecture where you just sat and listened and perhaps took notes. Another example would be attending a drug company sponsored lunch with a representative.

Now we know what regular CPD hours are; we can define participatory CPD hours and participatory learning:

Participatory CPD hours according to the NMC document on how to revalidate with the NMC means any learning time in which you personally interacted with other people. It is an activity undertaken with one or more professionals or in a larger group setting. The group does not always need to be in a common physical environment, such as a study tour or conference. It could be a group in a virtual environment (such as an online discussion group). Further more the people you interact with do not have to be healthcare professionals.

Hopefully, this makes sense of it all.  In our next update we will discuss why the NMC sought to emphasise participatory learning and what it means for your development as a professional.