NMC reflective account: what to include, with an example

What an NMC reflective account needs, how it connects to the Code, and a worked example for revalidation.

What NMC revalidation asks for

To renew their registration every three years, nurses, midwives and nursing associates must provide five written reflective accounts. Each one reflects on your continuing professional development, a piece of practice-related feedback, or an event or experience in your practice, and describes how it relates to the Code.

You also discuss your five reflective accounts with another registrant at your reflective discussion. You do not share anything that could identify a patient or colleague in the account itself.

How it links to the Code

Each account should say which part of the Code it connects to. The Code is grouped under four themes:

Prioritise people
Practise effectively
Preserve safety
Promote professionalism and trust

You do not need to force in all four. Pick the theme the experience genuinely speaks to, and say why.

What to include

What the CPD, feedback or event was, briefly and without identifying anyone.
What you learned from it.
How you changed or will change your practice as a result.
How it relates to the Code, naming the theme.

A worked example

What it was: I attended training on recognising the early signs of sepsis.

What I learned: I had been relying on the most obvious signs and had not given enough weight to subtle changes in a patient who was already unwell.

How my practice changed: I now escalate earlier when a patient’s pattern of observations shifts, even before any single reading crosses a threshold.

How it relates to the Code: This sits under Preserve safety. Acting on early concern rather than waiting for certainty protects the people in my care.

Keep it anonymous

Nothing in a reflective account should identify a patient, a family member or a colleague. Remove names, dates, places and any detail that would make someone recognisable. Reflect on what you learned, not on who was involved.

Write your reflective accounts by speaking

ReflectReady has an NMC template. You say what happened in your own words, it sorts them under the headings, and you read, edit and keep the result for revalidation. It never writes the reflection for you, and it helps you keep the account anonymous. Free to try.

Sources: NMC: written reflective accounts.