NMC CBT key terms

The NMC's professional standards setting out the four themes nurses and midwives must uphold: prioritising people, practising effectively, preserving safety, and promoting professionalism and trust. Breaching it can lead to fitness-to-practise proceedings.

The requirement that a registered professional has the health, character, skills and knowledge to remain on the register and practise safely and effectively without restriction.

The process every nurse and midwife completes every three years to renew registration, evidencing practice hours, continuing professional development, reflective accounts, feedback and a reflective discussion.

Being answerable for your own decisions, actions and omissions, and being prepared to explain and justify them to patients, employers, the regulator and the public.

The professional and legal obligation to be open and honest with patients when something goes wrong in their care, apologising, explaining what happened and putting things right where possible.

A patient's voluntary and informed agreement to examination, care or treatment, given after receiving enough information about benefits, risks and alternatives, and made without coercion.

The law in England and Wales that presumes adults have capacity unless proven otherwise and sets out how decisions should be made for people who lack capacity to decide for themselves.

The principle that any decision made for a person who lacks capacity must consider their wishes, feelings, values and circumstances and choose the option least restrictive of their rights and freedoms.

A statement made in advance by a person with capacity refusing specific future treatment, which must be respected by clinicians if it is valid and applicable to the current situation.

Acting on behalf of a patient to help them express their views, access information and have their rights and preferences respected, especially when they are vulnerable or feel unable to speak up.

The duty to keep personal health information private and share it only with those who need it for the patient's care or when there is a lawful and justified reason to disclose.

Sharing confidential patient information without consent when it is necessary to prevent serious harm, protect a vulnerable person, or meet a legal requirement such as reporting a serious crime.

Raising a genuine concern about unsafe or unlawful practice, usually internally first, in order to protect patients and improve services; the person raising it should be protected from detriment.

The action taken to protect children and adults at risk of abuse, neglect or harm, including recognising warning signs, responding appropriately and referring concerns to the right agency.

The legal and professional obligation to act in the best interests of patients, avoid causing them foreseeable harm and take reasonable steps to keep them safe.

Care that treats each person as an individual, respects their values, preferences and needs, involves them in decisions and supports their dignity, autonomy and independence.

A professional, boundaried relationship between a practitioner and a patient built on trust, respect, empathy and clear communication, focused on meeting the patient's health needs rather than the practitioner's.

The limits that keep the relationship between a practitioner and a patient safe and appropriate, preventing exploitation of the power imbalance and avoiding personal, financial or romantic involvement.

Giving full attention to a speaker, using verbal and non-verbal cues to show you are following, and reflecting back what you have understood to check accuracy and convey respect.

A communication technique using questions that invite a full, descriptive answer rather than a yes or no, helping patients explain their concerns, symptoms and preferences in their own words.

The ability to understand and acknowledge another person's feelings and perspective, and to communicate that understanding in a way that helps them feel heard and supported.

A person's ability to obtain, understand and use health information to make informed decisions; practitioners should adapt their communication to meet varying levels of literacy and understanding.

Trained language professionals used to support communication with patients who do not share the practitioner's language; family members should not be relied upon to interpret sensitive or confidential information.

A structured handover tool standing for Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation, used to communicate clinical information clearly, concisely and safely between team members.

The transfer of responsibility and information about a patient's care from one practitioner or team to another, which must be accurate, timely and structured to prevent errors and omissions.

The accurate, contemporaneous and legible documentation of assessments, decisions, care given and outcomes, which supports continuity of care and provides a legal record of professional practice.

The reduction and prevention of avoidable harm in healthcare, achieved through safe systems, reporting, learning from incidents and following evidence-based precautions such as infection control.

Formally recording an adverse event, near miss or error so that it can be investigated and lessons learned, without blame, to improve safety for future patients.

The study of how people interact with systems, tasks and environments, recognising that fatigue, stress, poor design and communication failures contribute to errors and can be designed out.

A systematic process of identifying hazards, judging the likelihood and severity of harm, and putting control measures in place to reduce risk to patients and staff.

Standard precautions such as hand hygiene, appropriate use of personal protective equipment, safe waste disposal and environmental cleanliness that reduce the spread of infection in care settings.

Transferring responsibility for a task to another person while remaining accountable for the decision to delegate and ensuring the person is competent and supervised appropriately.

Ongoing learning activities that maintain and develop the knowledge and skills needed for safe, effective practice, and which are recorded as part of the revalidation process.

The formal process of raising a concern about a professional's fitness to practise with the NMC or an employer, which may lead to investigation and, if necessary, restriction or removal from the register.

Choosing the intervention or restriction that limits a person's rights and freedoms as little as possible while still meeting their needs and keeping them safe.

Telling a patient clearly and promptly when something has gone wrong in their care, sharing what is known, answering questions and explaining what will happen next.

The rules and practices that ensure personal and health information is handled lawfully, securely and ethically, including storage, sharing, access and disposal of records.