Nurse education in the UK : moving beyond the EU regulations?

In 2018 the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) launched its Future Nurse and Realising Professionalism standards (NMC, 2018a; 2018b; 2018c). Collectively, these three-part standards specify the knowledge and skills that NMC registrants must demonstrate when caring for people of all ages and across all care settings and they incorporate an EU directive (NMC, 2018d:13). These NMC standards reflect what the public can expect nurses and midwives to know and be able to do to ensure the delivery of safe, compassionate and effective care. Now that the UK has left the EU, the NMC is no longer required to continue to include the EU minimum requirements within its education standards. This paper critically explores the recent online consultation, which closed in May (NMC, 2021a), seeking the views and input of public groups, professionals and partners across the UK about current education programme standards.