1-Introduction
Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
Nursing and Midwifery Council is a regulatory body for midwifery and nursing professions in the United Kingdom. NMC maintains a register for all midwives, nurses, and special communality public nursing associates. This regulatory body works for nurses and midwives who are eligible to work in the United Kingdom. It educates nurses and develops their ability to work in different healthcare organisations. Training & development is a primary function, which also streamlines its role in the healthcare industry. NMC has also optimised the code of conduct and performance reviews. The purpose of this regulatory body is to improve the nursing process and investigate the allegations of impaired practices. Protecting the wellbeing and health of the public is the main priority, and it is to be sustained in the future.
Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC)
Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) founded in 2001. It originated from the regulation of care, which is associated with the Scotland act. The primary purpose of this regulatory body is to register people in social services. The main functions are education, training and pertinent regulation. Interestingly, SSSC has portrayed some key objectives. For Instances, it aimed to protect people who acquire services. Also, it is determined to standardise the Practice. Moreover, it intended to improve the workforce through supporting professionalism.
Comparing & Contrasting
Education (entry of qualification)
For registration in NMC, the nurse is needed to ask its education institute to award qualification details. The university is required to declare that this qualification meets the proficiency standards for nursing associates, has benefited from placement experience in generic roles, and has achieved the required no of learning hours as by HEE Framework and that the program is rated as green by HEE (Nursing and Midwifery Council, 2019). As compared to NMC, SSSC does not need any qualification requirement from the register (The Scottish Social Services Council, 2019).
2-Registration
How long they have to wait before they register
Usually, for NMC, it does not take more than 20 working days. In contrast, the application at SSSC takes around three months for approval.
How do they register?
The registration at NMC requires the university to upload the nurse course and personal details in the database; they are also required to send the declaration of the nurse character and good health. The online NMC account is then created for which a registration fee of £120 is needed along with the filled application. The nurse will be registered in 2-10 working days (Nursing & MidWifery Council, 2019). As compared to NMC, SSSC requires making an online account first for registration. The national insurance number and personal email address are needed for making this online account. The application is then filled with all relevant information on personal details, the organisation at which they worked award certificates, any information on disciplinary or criminal or health matters, and with the application fee of £80 and an initial assessment fee of £320. After the approval within the next three months, and the payment of fees, the registration is completed.
When do they register?
After completing the course of nursing, they are expected to be registered. If a nurse applies for application after six months, more information from the university is needed. For application, after five years of course completion requires different standards. Nurses can also show their intention of not registering immediately. They can join up to 5 years after the qualification for register. Similarly, for SSSC, after the completion of the course and application approval, the nurses or social service workers can register. However, in contrast to NMC, the SSSC allows registration at any role and level only differing in the fee payments.
How often do they register?
The SSSC requires the registrants to renew their registration after five years or in some cases, after three or seven years of enrolment. The NMC requires the readmission when the registrant lapses its payments.
How do they Maintain Registration (CPD)
The registration is maintained by requiring the NMC registrants to pay an annual fee of £120. The non-payment of the annual registration fee makes the application lapse. Usually, a late submission was accepted in earlier periods. However, NMC has now demanded all lapsed applications to apply for readmission. The SSSC, like NMC, needs an annual payment of registration for the maintenance of the registration. However, unlike NMC, SSSC has a fixed period of registration for each of the roles, after which renewal of the registration is needed.
3-Code of Conduct
The SSSC code of conduct was published in 2016. The code is in two parts; the first one is for employers of Social Service workers while the other part is for social service workers. Firstly, The Codes of Practice for the social service workers is going to be explained here.
- The social service employer is needed to ensure that people are appropriate for working as social service workers and that their understanding of the accompanying roles and responsibilities is evident.
- The social service employer needs to have the system and culture to aid the employees in meeting the code of conduct
- The employer is also required to deliver the development and learning programs and opportunities for developing and strengthening the skills and knowledge of the social service workers
- It also needs employers to have written procedures and policies to protect and support the employees.
- The employers are also needed to promote and publicise the code of Practice of SSSC and support SSSC in its proceedings.
For the employees.
- The employee is needed to protect and encourage the interests of people who are utilising the services of social service workers
- They are required to maintain and create confidence and trust with the users of social services.
- They are also required to promote the independence of the people using the caring services along with protecting them from any harm
- They should respect the people’s rights and work to have no harm to their behaviours on the uses of caring services
- They need to uphold the confidence and trust of the people
- They are required to be accountable for their responsibilities and the maintenance of their skills and knowledge (Scottish Social Services Council, 2016).
4-Ethics
NMC and SSSC are in the limelight due to incredible ethical considerations. Undoubtedly, these regulatory bodies have demonstrated strands of ethics. Strands of ethics are consequentialism, deontology, virtue ethics, and Principlism. Relative to consequentialism, NMC and SSSC always urge to maximise the highest good for most considerable numbers. The administration is committed to depicting an appropriate moral response, which depends on the outcome of the act. For Instance, In NMC, ethically, the administration provides equal training and development opportunities to all nurses. It seems an ideology because well-trained nurses can maximise health benefits for the most significant number. Deontology streamlines an act of obligation, and it is quite visible in SSSC. For Instance, the SSSC administration aimed to guide people to work within boundaries. Taking responsibility for people is a big thing, and SSSC is entirely up to it. Both NMC and SSSC emphasize personal behaviour as well. When managing nurses or people in society, a person’s character seems imperative (Robison, 2018). Ethically, both bodies produce people with good characters, and the right outcomes are to be derived at the end. In health and social services, people have to face different ethical dilemmas. NMC and SSSC produce people who can make the best decisions in these situations. Ethically, they must work in a win-win situation, and it can justify ethical considerations.
One of the most prominent ethical strands is “Principlism,” which is aligned with autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. The Practice of both regulatory bodies is visible due to these elements of Principlism. For Instance, self-determined nurses and associated staff can help to improve healthcare. Non-maleficence is also a key element, as people produced these bodies are restrained from causing direct harm. Thus, it can be said that NMC and SSSC showed remarkable ethical values, which also lead to competence and sustainability (Nursing & Midwifery Council, 2015).
5-Governance
The governance system in NMC is based on a council at the top level. This council idealises the situation in healthcare, making decisions, and directing all key stakeholders to protect the public. The governance system is also based on openness and transparency. The administration conducts the meeting in society, and all stakeholders participate in streamlining issues and proposing a solution. Concerns regarding the regulatory role, performance, and finance are discussed. Apart from openness and transparency, proper checks and balances in the body can be observed. The implementation of council decisions is obvious, and it is also a vital measure to evaluate the service.
6-Regulations
In the United Kingdom, NMC is looking to adopt or implement a new standard of proficiency for midwives. Nevertheless, midwives must be registered. However, registering falsely is a criminal offence. Only eligible or deserved midwives are to be registered to be protected. Similarly, SSSC has also depicted regulations. People are to be registered systemically. The body legalised activities, which are integrated with standards. Anyone acting beyond SSSC standards will be penalised or ruled out from the service.
Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
The code of conduct of NMC published in 2017 is based on the following principles
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Priorities People
ike SSSC, NMC wants its employees and employers to treat people as humans and uphold their dignity. They want the nurses to consider the concerns and preferences of the users of the caring service. NMC has emphasised people’s rights, preferences, needs, best interests, and concerns.
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Practice effectively
NMC emphasises effective communications, cooperation among workers, sharing of knowledge, skills, and experience, recording of Practice, and as SSSC is accountable for the delegated tasks.
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Practice Safety
NMC like SSSC needs its employees and employers to work within the competence limits, raise concerns about any risks, act without delay in case of safety hazards, and reduce any chance of harms (Nursing and Midwifery Council-NMC, 2017).
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Promote Professionalism and Trust
NMC wants its employees to uphold the trust and reputation of their profession, respond to all complaints, and cooperate with the audit and administrative requirements.
Conclusion
In the end, it is to conclude that NMC and SSSC are two prominent bodies, which work for human wellbeing and betterment. In this comprehensive analysis, these two institutions have been introduced along with a visible comparison. Two entities are different from each other, and therefore, ethical governance considerations and registration processes are also different. The study illustrates different processes such as regulation, governance, code of conduct, and ethical considerations, along with the possible impact on all key stakeholders.
References
Nursing & Midwifery Council, 2015. The Code: Professional standard of practice and behaviour for nurses, midwives and nursing associates.
Nursing & MidWifery Council, 2019. Joining the register. [Online] Available at: https://www.nmc.org.uk/registration/joining-the-register/ [Accessed 8 October 2019].
Nursing and Midwifery Council, 2019. Nursing associates. [Online] Available at: https://www.nmc.org.uk/globalassets/sitedocuments/na-hub/na-student-webinar-slides-february-2019.pdf [Accessed 8 October 2019].
Nursing and Midwifery Council-NMC, 2017. The Code. [Online] Available at: https://www.nmc.org.uk/globalassets/sitedocuments/nmc-publications/nmc-code.pdf [Accessed 8 October 2019].
Robison, S., 2018. Health and Social Care Standards My support, my life. [Online] Available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/health-social-care-standards-support-life-easy-read-version/ [Accessed 8 October 2019].
Scottish Social Services Council, 2016. Codes of Practice. [Online] Available at: https://www.sssc.uk.com/knowledgebase/article/KA-01462/en-us [Accessed 8 October 2019].
The Scottish Social Services Council, 2019. Help with Register parts, fees and qualifications. [Online] Available at: https://www.sssc.uk.com/registration/help-with-register-parts-fees-and-qualifications/ [Accessed 8 October 2019].
