CPD made easy – The experts’ guide to continuing professional development

Nursing is one Australia’s most in-demand professions, despite nurses and midwives already representing over half of the nation’s health workforce.

With the roles of nurses and midwives continuing to evolve, long gone are the days when on-the-job training was the benchmark for learning.

These days, as the roles have become increasingly professionalised, nurses and midwives need to meet the stringent registration standards of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA), and an important part of this is continuing professional development (CPD).

CPD is how nurses and midwives maintain, improve and broaden their knowledge, expertise and competence, and develop the personal and professional qualities required throughout their professional lives.

To make completing your CPD requirements as easy as possible, we have created the ultimate guide. We’ve looked at what you need to do to retain your registration as it’s set out in the industry standard, broken down what learning opportunities count towards CPD (including workshops, study days and webinars,) and we talk to the experts about how best to plan and record your CPD. 

Why CPD matters

Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer Adjunct Professor Alison McMillan PSM draws on her more than 40 years of nursing experience to provide strategic advice to the Department of Health and Aged Care, overseeing a range of federal government projects like the National Nursing Workforce Strategy and the National Nursing and Midwifery Education Advisory Network. 

“Nurses are in every part of our health and aged care system – we see people at the beginning of life, and at the end, and everything in between,” Professor McMillan said.

“We work in primary health, hospitals, aged care, community care, and Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander communities. We work in many places in social justice areas, in schools, in prisons, everywhere. And I think it would be fair to say that probably every family in Australia will have at least one nurse.”

Although continuing professional development for nurses and midwives is required by law, Professor McMillan hopes that Australian nurses and midwives can recognise just how far the professions have come.

“It's important that we look back, to some extent, on the history of nursing and midwifery,” she said. 

“So many leaders before me fought very hard for nursing and midwifery to be recognised as professions, to be seen as health professionals in their own right. 

“A part of that was the development and the move to a university-based education for registered nurses. A formal education programme that's well regulated and of very high quality. Those that came before us fought for that. 

CPD is crucial for the maintenance of high quality care and the protection of the Australian public, ensuring all health professionals stay up to date with best practices, medical advancements and new digital health resources. However, understanding what is required and meeting the registration standard can be overwhelming, especially while juggling employment and the many other demands of modern life.

Professor McMillan reiterates the importance of continued learning, urging nurses and midwives to recognise both how far the profession has come and how much potential they still hold for meaningful leadership within the health sector. 

“It is the responsibility of nurses and midwives to not only educate ourselves at the beginning of our career, but to constantly keep ourselves up to date with contemporary practice, with ethics, with professional requirements, because that's what being a professional is,” she said.

“It shouldn't be seen as a burden. It should be seen as something that is a part of the privilege of being a professional and making sure that we can all deliver the highest quality care in whatever context by keeping ourselves up to date through the process of a formal CPD.” 

What is CPD?

Continuing professional development, or CPD, refers to the minimum ongoing education and training requirements necessary for Australian enrolled and registered nurses and midwives to maintain their professional registration by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, as per the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law.

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) is the regulating body responsible for overseeing the training and qualifications of the nation’s nurses and midwives, the development of best practice guidelines and the handling of complaints and disciplinary actions, just to name a few. 

“[CPD is] the means by which members of the profession maintain, improve and broaden their knowledge, expertise and competence, and develop the personal and professional qualities required throughout their professional lives.”  -  NMBA

CPD is designed as a means of protection for the Australian public by ensuring all nurses and midwives remain at the forefront of modern healthcare, and is therefore a legal requirement. However, it should also be seen as an opportunity for nurses and midwives to build upon their professional skills, diversify their practice and forge fulfilling and successful careers.

What is the registration standard?

The NMBA registration standard requires the completion of a minimum of 20 hours of CPD per registration period. However, nurses and midwives who hold an endorsement, such as Nurse Practitioner, must complete an additional 10 hours related to diagnostic investigations and medical prescriptions.

Importantly, this standard applies to all enrolled nurses, registered nurses and midwives, whether they are employed on a full-time or part-time basis or working in paid or unpaid roles, and continues to apply even when a nurse or midwife is on leave. 

If you are just entering or returning to the workforce in Australia, and will be registered for less than 12 months prior to renewal, your CPD requirement is calculated on a pro rata basis: 

Months registration has been held	Pro rata CPD hours that must be completed
0 – 3 months	≥ 5 hours (+ ≥ 2.5 hours for endorsement/notation)
>3 – 6 months	≥ 10 hours (+ ≥ 5 hours)
>6 – 9 months	≥ 15 hours (+ ≥ 7.5 hours)
> 9 –12 months	≥ 20 hours (+ ≥ 10 hours)

For those who wish to maintain both their nursing and midwifery registration, the NMBA requires the completion of standard CPD hours for both.

How can I complete my hours?

Fortunately, there are a lot of ways to accumulate CPD hours, from webinars and conferences to graduate certificates, Masters degrees or submissions to academic journals, there are options available to suit everybody. 

There is also a great deal of flexibility around how you complete your CPD hours, as long as your chosen activities can be defined as structured learning and relate to your current role. 

Some of the most common ways nurses and midwives complete their CPD requirements include: 

• Undertaking postgraduate study either through a university, TAFE or other accredited course provider
• Completing a workshop or short course offered by an accredited organisation
• Attending conferences or seminars related to your field of practice
• Workplace training/mandatory learning.

When deciding how to meet the registration standard, you must ensure that the experience will facilitate knowledge that is new to you – the idea is that you will use CPD activities to expand upon your existing skillbase.

Most importantly, all CPD hours you wish to report to the NMBA as part of your registration renewal must be applicable to your specific role. This is called ‘context of practice’.

What does Context of Practice mean?

The NMBA says “context of practice refers to the conditions that define an individual’s nursing and/or midwifery practice.”

‘Practice’, in this case, refers to a nurse or midwife’s role, encompassing all knowledge required to provide quality care – from clinical practice, to leadership qualities, to administration skills – but can also include things like location, patients or available resources and equipment. 

The registration standard dictates that all CPD hours must be directly relevant to one’s ‘context of practice’ in order to count towards the minimum 20 hour requirement. A large part of this is being able to effectively reflect upon and self-assess your learning. 

It is crucial to set aside time at the beginning of the registration period to plan. Identifying learning opportunities and setting goals that align with your career objectives will ensure the precious hours you spend completing the CPD requirement are as beneficial as possible. 

How do I report my CPD hours to the NMBA?

To prevent unnecessary stress at renewal time, keep a detailed record of all learning activities throughout the year, including your reflections. 

The NMBA requires a record of the following information: 

• Date
• Source or provider of learning activity 
• Identified learning needs 
• Action plan
• Type of activity (e.g. self directed learning, short course)
• Description of topic covered during activity and outcome
• Reflection on activity and specification to practice
• No./Title/Description of evidence provided
• Number of CPD hours

Professional organisations such as the Australian College of Nursing provide access to a portfolio application to assist their members in tracking CPD. Or do it yourself by downloading a copy of NMBA Sample template for documenting CPD here.

Remember, the NMBA may choose to perform an audit on your registration at any time, so it is best practice to retain records of your CPD hours for at least five years after completion.

What happens if I don’t meet the standard?

If you are unable to prove that you have met your CPD requirement by the time of registration renewal, you will need to apply to the NMBA for an exemption. 

However, keep in mind that an exemption will only be granted if you can provide ‘compelling evidence’ of the exceptional circumstances that prevented you from completing your CPD, and if you are unable to provide this evidence, you may risk losing your registration. 

Applications are assessed on a case by case basis and can result in a full, partial or complete exemption.

The NMBA exemptions policy dictates that exemption applications will only be considered “in one year of any four-year period.”

How to choose CPD that's right for you

The post-graduate path

A post-grad qualification can be a great tool for both the specialisation and advancement of a nursing career. 

Whether through a university, TAFE or college, a graduate certificate will help you prepare for advanced practice and can pave the way to acceptance into a Masters degree further into your career.

Brisbane-based clinical nurse Steph* said her graduate certificate in orthopaedics was one of the most valuable career decisions she has made. 

After being promoted to clinical nurse only four years into her career, Steph knew she needed to boost her knowledge in order to thrive in her new position. 

“I think it's [post-grad study] probably something that all clinical nurses should have to do,” she said. 

“Just so you have that elevated basic knowledge and can be confident when your peers or doctors are coming to you asking you questions.”

Working in a smaller private hospital, Steph has also completed short courses in cannulation/venipuncture and advanced life support in order to take on greater responsibility.

“Being able to do those specific things in a timely manner when the pathologist and the doctors aren't available is so important. Not having to rely on others to get time-effective stuff done shows that you are proactive and can really instill confidence in your own abilities.”

Currently on her second maternity leave, Steph is grateful to have gone the extra mile to set up a rewarding career before taking time out to have children.

“For me, I feel lucky that I prioritised my career when I did,” she said. 

“I will return to work on reduced hours and I feel like it would pretty much be impossible to work my way up [now].

“There's no way I will have the time to do extra courses at the moment or even work more than two, three days a week.”

Australian College of Nursing (ACN) interim National Director for Education Dr Jacinta Kelly advises members to become a “lifelong learner.”

“There are hundreds of different ways to be a nurse,” Dr Kelly said. 

“And the way that you approach adult learning, CPD or postgraduate qualifications depends on what kind of nurse you are, your context, what you're doing and what you are aiming for.” 

Short courses and other CPD

While it is important to complete your CPD requirements in a way that works for you, diversifying the ways in which you learn throughout the year will not only broaden your knowledge but help to keep you engaged. 

If you're not undertaking formal post-graduate study, you'll need to meet your CPD hours with various short courses, conferences, webinars and either reading or authoring peer-reviewed academic journal articles that relate to your individual context of practice. 

Dr Kelly says this is where some learners can come unstuck when preparing for registration. 

“There is no formal accreditation of CPD – there's nothing that a provider needs to go through to say, this is approved CPD by the NMBA,” she said.  

“So there's a little bit of individual judgement involved. You could potentially choose a short course of a very reputable organisation, but if you couldn't show it was related to your practice, it wouldn't count as part of your registration. 

“CPD is really about reflecting on your individual context and what you need to be the best practitioner that you can be.”

You can find short courses offered by a multitude of health organisations around the country and online. These can be a great way to acquire new skills that will benefit your workplace, community and career. 

With less commitment required than a formal post-graduate qualification, short courses are an excellent way to add value to your skills and resume. 

Similar to graduate certificates, there are a number of courses that are subsidised by the federal government or available under grants from charitable foundations (such as the National Immunisation Program) that may be a cost-effective solution for many nurses and midwives. 

Subsidised courses will shift according to the most pressing needs of the industry, resulting in some of the most relevant and valuable qualifications available. 

For the time poor, microcredentials and seminars offered by professional bodies allow you to break up your learning into bite-sized chunks, and can also help provide a greater amount of variation in your learning. 

Learning and leadership go hand in hand and Dr Kelly encourages nurses and midwives of all backgrounds to consider leadership skills as part of their professional learning. 

This is why the Australian College of Nursing (ACN) provides multiple pathways for nurses and midwives to become better leaders, no matter their current role, offering a Graduate Certificate in Leadership and Management, as well as continued education and support via their Institute of Leadership.

“The ACN Institute of Leadership is about meeting nurses where they are,” she said. 

“They might be really new in their career, they might be executives, or they might be somewhere in the middle, the Institute helps nurses to lead from where they are. Because nurse leaders, it's just not just at the top of a food chain, you can be a leader no matter what your job description is. 

“The Institute is about finding ways to empower nurses to think about themselves as leaders in healthcare, and to find how we can work as a whole to make sure that our voices are represented.”

Dr Kelly’s tips for CPD success:

• Document as you go – don't wait until right before registration to try and pull your documents together.
  
• Always ask “does this relate to my practise?” And if you're not sure how to answer that question, it’s quite likely that the learning activity is not appropriate for CPD.
  
• Consider becoming a member of a professional body – colleges, associations etc. are a great way to access a whole host of learning opportunities. You may find it helpful to be able to scroll through what a professional body has to offer and choose the best fit for you.
  
• Take advantage of government subsidised courses and graduate certificates, these are always changing according to industry demand.
  
• Never stop learning! The best professionals in any industry are learning all of the time and always seeking new information. 

Career planning and promotions

Nursing and midwifery are two professions that are unfortunately still operating under a legacy of gendered pay, with the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reporting that in 2022, 88 per cent of nurses and midwives in the country were female. 

Data from an Edith Cowan University study showed that gender continues to have a profound influence on not only how much a nursing graduate will be paid in their first job, but also how quickly their career will progress.

Key findings show that male nurses are being paid around four per cent more than their female colleagues just six months after graduation, with the gap widening to approximately 13 per cent at the three year mark.

This is yet another example of why career planning, and continued learning and the development of strong leadership skills are integral to all nurses and midwives.

We spoke to New South Wales Nursing and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA) general secretary Shaye Candish about how nurses and midwives can take control of their careers and seek out promotion opportunities.

“Firstly, I would encourage nurses and midwives to pursue post-grad qualifications and a diverse range of education including attending conferences in their area of interest for professional development,” Ms Candish said. 

“It’s important to remember that there are many different career paths that you can take and many skills are transferrable.

“You should make the most of opportunities that arise in the workplace that allow you to gain further experience, including acting up in roles.”

The NSWNMA assists its members with career progression through an array of learning, scholarship and conference opportunities, including online CPD platform iLearn. Ms Candish also encourages all nurses and midwives to seek out a mentor or other guidance from people that work in the fields they wish to pursue.

“Be open-minded on the pathways you can take, as there are various sectors and specialities that often get overlooked such as Primary Health, rural and remote, Justice Health and community. It’s important to remember the hospital setting is not the only place that can provide career progression,” she said.

“Lastly, nursing presents many leadership opportunities and is a key feature of our healthcare system. Roles like Nurse Manager, Clinical Nurse Educator and Nurse Practitioners, to name a few, are the go-to experts that offer support, advice and guidance, and these positions allow you to enhance your skills, education and further your career.”

Growth areas

Last year’s Nursing Supply and Demand Study, released by the Department of Health and Aged Care, projected a workforce undersupply of 70,707 full-time equivalent nurses (FTE) by 2035, estimating a total of 79,473 new nurses needed to meet demand.

Aged care continues to be a growth sector for nurses and allied health professionals as we see sweeping legislation changes come into effect in 2025 and, more broadly, as the Australian population continues to age.

“Aged care presents great opportunities for nurses, and often nurses can progress their career faster in this sector moving into care management and advanced practice roles,” Ms Candish said. 

Other, perhaps lesser-known fields that the NSWNMA general secretary urges nurses and midwives to consider in their career planning include: 

• Professional and advocacy roles like those we offer in the NSWNMA that advocate for, influence and protect the professions of nursing and midwifery. Nurses and midwives in the NSWNMA do many things from organising and empowering union members, to improving their pay and working conditions, advocating for individuals experiencing a problem in the workplace and even influencing government policy that impacts on nurses, midwives and the healthcare system.
  
• Regulatory roles – nurses and midwives are essential in roles in government organisations like the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, AHPRA, the NMC and other government and regulatory organisations. They may write and review policy, conduct audits or work with academia and research.
  
• Clinical trials.

Private vs Public

When considering your next career move, one of the considerations you may face is whether to work in the public or private sector.

“Specialist senior positions like Clinical Nurse/Midwife Educators, Clinical Nurse/Midwife Specialists and Clinical Nurse/Midwife Consultants are more prevalent in the public sector, allowing nurses and midwives to enhance their skills and progress their careers in specialist, educational roles,” Ms Candish said. 

“The scale of the public health service also allows for nurses and midwives to move workplaces and roles as they develop, so there are many opportunities to be explored.

“However, traditionally, the hourly rate in the private sector is slightly higher than the public sector.”

* Last name redacted at interviewee’s request

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A quick guide to becoming a sole trader

By Karan Anand, Managing Director of Hnry Australia

Nurses, midwives, and aged care workers in Australia are increasingly moving away from traditional employment in favour of sole trading and contracting work. The exhaustion and burnout from the  COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with the national nursing shortage have contributed to the shift.  

In fact, last year, nurse sign-ups to sole trader tax and accounting service, Hnry, surged by 380 per cent as more  and more healthcare workers pursued self-employment which can offer higher pay, more flexible working conditions, and the opportunity to shape their own career. 

A ‘sole trader’ refers to someone who is the sole owner and decision-maker of their ‘business’ which  essentially translates to being in control of what you do, how you do it, and when you do it. But with this  autonomy comes responsibility – managing cash flow, contracts, taxes, and legal obligations. 

The good news is that setting yourself up as a sole trader is not as daunting as it might seem – it's far simpler and more navigable than setting up as a company. Here are the essential steps to get started: 

1. Lock in your TFN
You’ll need a Tax File Number. If you’ve been an employee, you should  already have one; otherwise, apply for a TFN on the ATO website.  

2. Register your business
You’ll need an Australian Business Number to operate legally.  Applying on the ABR website is simple if you have all the necessary details. 

3. Register for GST
If you expect to earn over the $75,000 GST threshold, you’ll also need to register for GST and regularly lodge a Business Activity Statement with the ATO. 

Getting set up is relatively easy – the trickier part of a move to sole trader is handling your own taxes and financial admin. Tax preparation isn’t as straightforward as setting aside a percentage of your income for income tax, the Medicare levy, and GST. It's crucial to know which rules apply to you to avoid costly surprises at the end of the financial year. For an estimate of what to set aside, try a sole trader tax calculator. 

One you’re set up here are some other tops to help you kick-start your self-employed venture on the right foot: 

1. Know your tax deadlines
Familiarise yourself with key tax deadlines to avoid missing  important milestones. 

2. Maximise your tax deductions
Hnry research shows the average sole trader misses out on  over $5,500 in unclaimed expenses annually. To boost your potential refund, check out its nurses' and midwives' guide to tax deductions. 

3. Secure your super
Superannuation is not compulsory for sole traders – in fact, 43 per cent of  Australia’s 1.5 million sole traders have never made a contribution – but putting it off can cost you  in the long run. In line with Australia’s superannuation guarantee, allocating 11.5 per cent of your  income is a good starting point to help secure your retirement savings. 

4. Protect yourself
Ensure you have the right insurance to protect against any risks – from claims  of negligence to an accident or injury that renders you unable to work. 

5. Tap into tech
Using a platform such as Hnry allows you to automate much of your tax admin (including tax payments and filings), so you can focus on what you do best. 

By understanding the basics of sole trading, you’ll set yourself up for success and can make a seamless shift into self-employment, where you can provide the care you’re passionate about, while enjoying the  freedom and flexibility that comes with being your own boss. 

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