When did you last learn something new at work? Maybe a new escalation protocol. An unfamiliar condition you researched after handover. Or an in-service you attended over your lunch break. A lot of that counts. Chances are a lot of what you do every week already counts towards your annual requirement.
The short answer
CPD is any learning activity that's relevant to your scope of practice and that keeps your knowledge current. And your practice isn't just bedside care. Governance, management, education, research and policy development, these areas count too.
What counts
The Nursing and Midwifery Board (NMBA) lists:
- Tertiary, vocational and accredited courses
- Conferences, forums,webinars, and seminars
- Short courses and workshops that provide you a certificate
- Workplace training, when it teaches you something new
- Workplace In-Services- Hospital teaching sessions, grand rounds, and peer review
- Self-directed learning, like reading journal articles
- Listening to Clinical Podcasts
What doesn't count
Routine annual CPR, manual handling and fire training. The NMBA says these can't be counted. But if workplace training covers something genuinely new to you and clinical knowledge or a skill is gained, it can.
The part people miss
Hours alone won't protect you in an AHPRA audit. CPD required an active, reflective cycle. For each CPD activity, write down your: 1. learning need, 2. your plan, 3. what you did, the outcome and a short reflection. If you read an article, add the reference.
Sounds like a lot? It's a few lines each time. Leave it until May and it's a weekend.
- Learning Need - what knowledge gap or clinical question prompted this
- The Plan - How did you choose to address it
- The Activity - What did you do, watch or read (it takes 2 mins)
- The Outcome + Reflection - How this improved your competency and practice
Already doing CPD without logging it?
In the Nurses & Midwives Academy app, you can log, reflect and store all of your activity in 3 quick steps. They all count towards your required 20 hours.
Get 20 hours of free CPD on Nurses and Midwives Academy. Get my 20 free hours
Source: NMBA Fact sheet: Continuing professional development
