Abstract
In many countries, such as Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States of America, Nursing and Midwifery Professional Bodies undergo a revalidation process demonstrating evidence of continuing professional development (CPD) and clinical practice hours in order to remain an active member on the professional register. In most countries this process involves documenting evidence in paper format. However, in the UK, our closest neighbour, eportfolio submission is now offered as an option for revalidation. Ireland is imminently moving towards introducing documented evidence as a requirement for continued registration as currently, there are no requirements to demonstrate evidence of continuing professional development or clinical practice as part of the annual re-registration process. While there are plans to address this in the near future, there are no details regarding the revalidation requirements or process. Irish undergraduate and postgraduate nursing and midwifery students are beginning to use eportfolios for assessment purposes and are increasingly familiar with the online eportfolio platforms. In this paper, we provide a rationale for the Irish Nursing and Midwifery Board (NMBI) to adopt eportfolios for the submission of documentary evidence for both initial registration and revalidation. We will examine the advantages and the barriers to the introduction of eportfolios in this context. The use of eportfolios would provide the NMBI an opportunity to lead the way in registration and revalidation processes internationally, enabling nurses and midwives in Ireland to embrace the opportunities that the digital age presents.
Highlights
Revalidation is an important process by which licensed professionals Healthcare Practitioners demonstrate to their governing body that they are up to date, fit to practice, and comply with the current professional standards (National Health Service (NHS) England n.d.)
An evaluation of the e-portfolio revalidation process in the United Kingdom (UK) was carried out in 2019 and proved successful in that participants reported the process was straightforward with minimal burden, an important requirement for all revalidation processes (NMC 2020)
Based on the recommendation from Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) (2020) revalidation in Ireland from the planning and implementation phase must be "future-proofed” and in this paper, we provided a rationale for Irish Nurses and Midwives to embrace eportfolios as a digital approach for registration and revalidation
Summary
Revalidation is an important process by which licensed professionals Healthcare Practitioners demonstrate to their governing body that they are up to date, fit to practice, and comply with the current professional standards (National Health Service (NHS) England n.d.). The use of portfolios in the nursing and midwifery profession empowers practitioners to take responsibility for the creation and development of their work profile (Gordon & Campbell, 2013) In this digital age, eportfolios have been proposed as a good alternative to paper-based processes. The introduction of a new revalidation process in Ireland will require an investment in manpower and finances upfront to inform and educate nurses and midwives about the new approach Given this cost, it makes sense to take the time to introduce a state of the art technology-driven e-portfolio platform from the outset, so Irish nurses and midwives could lead the way on revalidation processes internationally. Key to successful implementation of eportfolios over the long term is to involve all stakeholders in the design of the eportfolio platform, from students, to clinical supervisors to academic supervisors (Chang et al, 2017)
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