NMC CBT study plan
NMC CBT · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 6 hours per week
Nursing and midwifery practice & Professional standards and The Code
Map each domain of The Code to at least two concrete clinical scenarios you have encountered or can imagine
Define the four fields of nursing and midwifery practice and list the core competencies under each
Explain the difference between accountability, responsibility and delegation using three worked examples
Draft a one-page glossary of 20 statutory and regulatory terms (NMC, revalidation, fitness to practise, duty of candour)
Your checkpoint
A one-page concept map linking The Code's four themes to Domain 1 practice competencies, with at least 10 labelled links
Nursing and midwifery practice & Professional standards and The Code
Apply the six principles of safeguarding to three vulnerable-patient vignettes and justify each action
Compare the NMC standards for medicines management against a mock drug round, flagging every deviation
Describe the escalation pathway (SBAR) for a deteriorating patient and rehearse it aloud twice
Summarise the professional duty around record keeping and consent in no more than 200 words
Your checkpoint
Three written vignette answers (safeguarding, medicines, deterioration) each scored against a self-made 5-point rubric
Nursing and midwifery practice & Professional standards and The Code
Work through 40 mixed Domain 1 and 2 practice questions under timed conditions
Categorise every wrong answer by cause (knowledge gap, misread, guess) and log it
Re-teach the three weakest topics to an imaginary colleague in under five minutes each
List five situations requiring escalation to a senior colleague and state why for each
Your checkpoint
An error log of all incorrect answers with a corrected one-line rationale for each
Communication and interpersonal skills & Safety, ethics and professional accountability
Identify the components of therapeutic communication and demonstrate each in three written dialogues
Analyse two scenarios involving capacity and best interests against the Mental Capacity Act principles
Explain the difference between advocacy, paternalism and shared decision-making with examples
Practise two difficult conversations (breaking bad news, handling a complaint) and self-critique each
Your checkpoint
Two scripted difficult-conversation transcripts with a written self-critique against a communication checklist
Communication and interpersonal skills & Safety, ethics and professional accountability
Describe how to obtain valid consent and document refusal in three distinct patient groups
Outline the process for raising and escalating a concern (whistleblowing) from ward to regulator
Apply the duty of candour to two incident scenarios and draft the disclosure conversation
Explain how bias, culture and health literacy affect communication and list mitigations
Your checkpoint
A one-page escalation flowchart plus two duty-of-candour disclosure scripts
Communication and interpersonal skills & Safety, ethics and professional accountability
Work through 40 mixed Domain 3 and 4 practice questions under timed conditions
Review the error log from week 3 and re-attempt every previously missed question
Explain confidentiality, data protection and information sharing in three boundary cases
Summarise the ethical principles (autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, justice) applied to one end-of-life vignette
Your checkpoint
A re-test score report showing improvement on previously missed items, with notes on any still unresolved
Nursing and midwifery practice & Professional standards and The Code & Communication and interpersonal skills & Safety, ethics and professional accountability
Complete two full-length timed mock exams and record domain-level scores
Identify the two weakest domains from mock data and build a targeted revision list
Rehearse all four domains through rapid-fire flashcards (50 cards in 20 minutes)
Draft concise model answers to the five highest-frequency question stems you have seen
Your checkpoint
A domain-by-domain mock score sheet with a prioritised revision list of no more than 10 items
Nursing and midwifery practice & Professional standards and The Code & Communication and interpersonal skills & Safety, ethics and professional accountability
Close every item on the week-7 revision list and verify with a short self-quiz
Complete one final timed mock exam and compare against week-7 baseline
Consolidate a one-page 'exam-day' checklist covering timing, flagging and review strategy
Rest and taper: no new material after day five, light review only
Your checkpoint
Final mock score report compared to baseline plus a completed one-page exam-day checklist
Milestones
Week 2: Concept map complete and three rubric-scored vignettes submitted with a pass on at least two of three
Week 4: Both difficult-conversation transcripts written and self-critiqued; error log from week 3 fully categorised
Week 6: Re-test shows improvement on at least 70% of previously missed items
Week 8: Final mock score at or above target with no domain below 60%