The majority of nurses and midwives have revalidated successfully according to the latest figures from the NMC.
Just over 90% (14,362) of the 15,873 due to revalidate in April have successfully renewed their registration through revalidation and only 1401 have left the register. This is in line with the number of registrants normally expected to leave the register in any given April, said the NMC.
'Nurses and midwives are clearly embracing revalidation, which should reassure patients and the public they are receiving safe care at the hands of professionals who regularly reflect on their practice,' said Jackie Smith, the chief executive and registrar of the NMC.
'Importantly statistics from the first month show that there has been no increase in the number of nurses and midwives leaving the register. This is contrary to concerns that revalidation might cause great numbers of registrants to leave. In fact, our register has seen a net increase of 31,000 people over the past six years,' she added.
While the majority of the 15,873 due to revalidate in April have now completed the process, a small number of applications (106) have been granted an extension or are subject to additional checks by the NMC.
Practice nurse Marcela Elkin was the first person on the register to revalidate. 'Revalidation is the best thing that could have happened to nurses. It encourages them to push and be a bit braver. It will give nurses the power to say, "this is what needs to be done",'she said.
In addition to the high proportion of the April cohort submitting their revalidation applications, 96% of them have an NMC Online account. NMC Online allows nurses and midwives to find out their renewal dates, as well as carry out other registration processes.