September marked three years since I moved to UK. I can confidently say that I have acclamatised to the culture. This is not to say that I now know everything there is to know about English culture. Still, each new day comes with a new lesson.
Two significant events on my three year anniversary were renewing my resident's permit and NMC Revalidation.
BRP/VISA Renewal
This process can be straightforward or complicated from one individual to the next. I was lucky to have the straightforward type. I have heard stories from people who had to go through turmoil with the very process.
Renewing your BRP involves getting a new Certificate of Sponsorship from your employer then submitting an application on GOV.UK. Once you've submitted your application, they will share their decision via email and post your new BRP to your address, if your application was successful. From what I have seen with my pool of friends is that their is no set timeline for their decison or getting your BRP.
My two cents on this process are the following:
Start your application process early. Know the organization you are working for. Ask people who have applied before you. If you have to chase recruitment for a COS start as soon as possible. Don't wait until the month of your BRP expiry to start calling or emailing them.
Avoid travel around the expiry of your application. You need your permit to be granted entry into the UK. You also shouldn't travel when your application is ongoing as you are not guaranteed of a positive response. If an emergency happens like sickness or death then you can hasten the application process but you must provide evidence to the matter.
Plan ahead. This is very important especially financially. It cost me £247 to renew my Visa. If you have a family, their permits will also expire if your spouse or child is your dependant. Therefore, depending on the number of people you are applying for, your may need upto £1000 to renew your permits. Start saving for this in a Sinking Fund in good time.
Patience is a must. Fullstop.
NMC Revalidation
I first heard about Revalidation as early as the time I was studying for OSCE. I remember one of the tutors during the face to face mandatory trainings after OSCE saying that we need to start writing our reflections in preparation for revalidation. At that very moment none of that made sense.
Besides, it was a long time to come and I had other urgent things to deal with; like where to find maize flour for Ugali.
Fast forward to February this year when I got an email from NMC about my revalidation. The main theme of the email was to start preparing in good time, and for the first time I researched what revalidation was all about and told myself that I would start in good time. December was ages away and like the good procrastinator I am, I set it aside.
Each passing month I reminded myself about the revalidation. NMC also sent out their reminders from time to time. Efforts to start early went with the wind and did not return. The best I ever did was to create a folder in my desktop and named it Revalidation.
October came and passed and when November began, I knew it was time.
Below are the key component of revalidation and what I learnt from them:
Practice Hours. The NMC requires you to be in practice for you to stay in their register. This is easy when you are employed full time as you can easily make up the 450 hours requirement.
Training. For you to maintain your knowledge and skill, the NMC requires that you attend at least 35 hours of learning out of which 20 must be partciaptory like class attendance. Again, this is easy to make up when in full employement as we do a lot of trainings a long the way. The short course here and there also make this section easy to complete.
Feedback log. This is where the legwork starts. I had to think about the feedback I got whether as an individual or a unit. I had to think through the feedback from both patients and collegues in the past three years and what they meant to me.
Reflections. This is the bone and flesh of revalidation. The reflections are based on your trainings or feedback. You have to describe the specific training or feedback, explain what you learnt or how your improved your practice and link it to the NMC code. If you genuinely do this, you will unlock the value of reflection as a nurse. I will definitely make it something I do from time to time.
Discussion and Confimation. The last bits has to be done with another NMC registered nurse. You will discuss your reflections and they will confim that you have met all the set threshold. This is also a section I throroughly enjoyed because I got to sit down with my charge nurse and just talk about how my practice has been for the last three years. Again, I found out how fun and relieving debrifing and such dicussions can be. Another practice I'm taking away from revalidation.
The final step of submitting your application is done on your online account. After completing the form, I thought I would to upload it to my NMC account. However, the submission involves a few steps where you give information on your workplace and details of the RN who discussed and confimed your reflection and portfolio.
Sitting here now, I realize that Revalidation is a simple yet profound process of assessing your skill, developement and progress in the proffesion. Having said that, I'm glad I don't have to think about until 2025.
Here's to another three years of daring abroad.