The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA), along with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra), have advised that they will not take action if a nurse or midwife declares that they could not meet their required CPD hours for the 2019-2020 registration period.
In a statement, Ahpra indicated that the COVID-19 crisis may mean that “some nurses and midwives may have trouble meeting the CPD requirements during this challenging time”. This has resulted in the NMBA providing a level of leniency for those unable to meet these requirements.
However, nurses and midwives should continue to improve upon their professional development, and log any CPD they have undertaken during this period.
Nurses and midwives are reminded that the following learning opportunities may contribute to CPD hours:
- COVID-19 in-services,
- reading and reflecting on COVID-19 journal articles, and
- COVID-19 infection control training – online training modules.
Ahpra has indicated that the NMBA may request for evidence of CPD for nurses and midwives who declare that they were unable to meet the recency of practice standard.