If you can't get a nursing job during an NMC investigation, you can still show strengthened practice. Keep your CPD up to date with reflections on learning linked to the concerns, learn how the FtP process works, and consider associated roles such as healthcare assistant, support worker, education, voluntary or private sector work, where feedback can still evidence the issues the NMC is looking at. Document what you learn from each job application too.
Key takeaways
- Employers can be cautious during an investigation, but many will support you.
- Keep CPD up to date and write short reflections on learning linked to the concerns.
- Associated and non-nursing roles can still evidence communication, behaviour and reliability.
- Every rejection is learning: record it and use it to shape your next steps.
It can be very hard to find employment while you are under Fitness to Practise investigation. Even without an interim order or conditions, employers may be sceptical about offering a role while your regulator is investigating. In the current climate, many registrants struggle to find jobs even when they haven't been referred.
But there are employers who will support you. And if you haven't found them yet, there are things you can do that will help your case just as much.
1. Update your CPD
Make sure your CPD is up to date: courses relevant to the concerns being investigated, and courses for your wider professional portfolio. Record every course in your CPD log and write a short reflection on those relating to the concerns, showing what you learned and how it will improve your practice.
2. Learn the investigation process
Understand how the NMC assesses cases by reading its Fitness to Practise library and resources such as NMCWatch. Know what stage you are at and which stage comes next, so you can use this time to be ready and prepared.
3. Think about associated roles and transferable skills
Other roles can help you address some of the NMC's concerns, for example:
- the voluntary or charity sector;
- the private sector;
- education or learning support;
- support worker roles;
- healthcare assistant roles.
Even roles outside healthcare can address key issues. If your referral is about behaviour or communication, colleagues can still give feedback on those things, even if the job isn't in nursing or midwifery.
Every little counts. Don't be put off by rejections: with each one comes learning, and the learning can be more significant than anything.
Use each application as a learning opportunity. Document what you learned and how it will help you decide on your next steps. Think more widely about roles you haven't considered before; new opportunities can come from the hardest situations.
Further reading
- NMCWatch: articles on struggling with employment during FtP and navigating conditions of practice
- Royal College of Nursing: guidance on applying for a job following dismissal
- Our guide to working during an NMC investigation
Keep everything together in our CPD and remediation evidence log.
Frequently asked questions
The NMC understands that work can be hard to find during an investigation. What matters is showing what you have done to strengthen your practice, so record your learning, CPD and any applications.
It can. Feedback and evidence from other roles can show improvements in areas such as communication, behaviour, reliability and teamwork.
That is a personal decision and worth taking time over. Talk it through with someone you trust, such as a mentor, before deciding. Leaving the register does not always end an investigation.
