ABSTRACT
The professional regulatory body for nursing, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), has stated within the Professional Code of Conduct that all registered nurses must maintain their professional knowledge and competence. The formal requirements for nurses to re-register state that nurses must meet the post-registration education and practice standards. All nurses are required to maintain a personal professional portfolio of their learning activity. Appraisal is widely accepted in the NHS as a formative process that should be concerned with the professional development and personal fulfilment of the individual, leading to an improvement in their performance at work. Lifelong learning is a concept that is advocated by the NMC in order to develop professional knowledge and competence in order to improve patient care. Reflective writing has been endorsed by the NMC as an excellent way of analysing practice and learning from experiences.
