Applying for a job following investigation, sanction or dismissal

If you're applying for a job following an investigation, sanction, dismissal, or NMC referral, we understand this can be a difficult time for you. You may feel concerned about how this will impact on your career, or worry it will stop you from gaining future employment.

Unless it has been specified otherwise by an official body/organisation (e.g. NMC, DBS, Home Office, etc) then there is nothing to stop you applying for jobs within healthcare. The important thing is that you are upfront and honest with any future employer about what happened.

Applying for jobs in these circumstances is undoubtedly more challenging than usual, but not impossible. On the contrary, many healthcare professionals are able to find new jobs and move forward with their careers following a successful disclosure.

Some employers might feel nervous about hiring a person who’s been investigated, sanctioned or referred to the NMC, so it's possible you might get turned down for roles when you disclose what happened. Try not to be disheartened and be prepared to keep trying.

Practical advice

It’s possible that you were investigated, sanctioned or referred to the NMC, but weren’t dismissed by your employer. Often, resigning in order to move on elsewhere and start afresh can seem like an attractive prospect, but you should consider carefully whether it's in your interest to stay where you are in the interim.

Remaining in your current job might mean you can:

• Remedy any shortfalls
• Undergo further training
• Make the most of any ongoing support, coaching or supervision
• Build up a period of time following the incident
• Complete any capability measures 

Prospective employers will be more willing to hire a candidate if they can get a picture of how the candidate has acted since any incident, e.g. what measures have been taken, whether there has been any repetition, any positive feedback or evidence of improvement, etc.

If you resign to get a new job, there is a greater risk that you may not be able to find a new job, or that a job offer could be withdrawn due to a disclosure or reference.

Resigning will not cancel out proceedings

If you are subject to an investigation, capability/disciplinary hearing, or NMC referral, you should be aware that resigning from your job will not counteract or stop this. You would still have to disclose the details of any incident to a prospective employer when you next go for a job. Finding employment in these circumstances can prove more difficult, as most employers will want to know the outcome of your case before deciding whether to employ you. 

Getting an unconditional offer before you resign

If you do decide you want to leave your employer following an incident, try not to resign without having another job to go to with an unconditional offer of employment. This would usually be offered after your references have gone through.

RCN Support

If you are being supported by the RCN with your case, you should always talk things through with your RCN rep or officer before making any decisions. If you don't have a rep, you can contact RCN Direct for advice.

If you have been investigated or sanctioned, the employer is obliged to inform prospective employers about this if asked for a reference.

If you think your reference is unfair, false or inaccurate, you may wish to challenge it. For advice about this and your legal rights, please see the RCN's online advice about references.

Practical Steps

Writing a reflective account after an incident can be a positive step, rooted in both personal growth and professional development. Reflection helps to address the immediate implications of the incident as well as playing a crucial role in preventing future incidents.

You can use structured reflective models such as Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle or Johns’ Model for Structured Reflection to guide your writing to ensure your reflection is thorough and structured. See the RCN’s resources on reflection if needed.

Remember, prospective employers (or the NMC if you are referred) will be looking for insight, genuine remorse, accountability, appropriate action following the incident, and likelihood of repetition.

Aspects of a good reflection

Objectivity: Describe the incident factually, without letting emotions colour this part of your account. Detail what happened, when, and where, aiming for clarity and precision.

Reflect: Acknowledge and express how the incident made you feel at the time and afterwards. This is not about justifying actions but understanding your emotional and psychological state, which is important for personal growth.

Analyse: Critically assess your actions or inactions during the incident. Consider what you did well and what could have been done differently. Reflect on your decision-making process considering the context and the pressures you were under.

Learning: Identify the key lessons learned from the incident and they now impact your understanding of professional practice, communication, teamwork, or ethical considerations.

Improvement: Based on your reflections and lessons learned, outline how you plan to change or improve your practice. This might include further training, coaching, changes in clinical practice, better communication strategies, or new approaches to decision-making.

Consult the NMC Code: Revisit the NMC Code and reflect on which parts of the code your actions related to and how you can better align your practice with these standards in the future. Consider the four themes of the cod: prioritising people, practising effectively, preserving safety, promoting professionalism and trust.

Seek Feedback: If appropriate, you may want to discuss the incident and your reflections with a trusted mentor, or supervisor (whilst maintaining confidentiality.) External perspectives can provide valuable insights and help you see aspects of the situation you might not have considered.

Confidential: Be sure to maintain confidentiality when writing your reflection. Avoid using names or any details that could identify patients, colleagues, or specific locations.

The longer that you are away from work, the easier it is to feel isolated and out the loop, contributing to a decrease in confidence in your professional knowledge and capabilities. Take a proactive approach to staying as professionally active as possible.

This can reflect well on you during your interviews and/or NMC proceedings as it demonstrates a commitment to maintaining and enhancing your professional competence, reflective practice, and adherence to the standards expected by the NMC.

• Join the RCN forums and participate in their Facebook groups to stay connected with your peers. Share best practice or discuss the latest news, development or innovations in that particular field.
• Attend your local RCN branch meetings and/or get involved in campaigns
• Participate in courses, e-learning, webinars, training, or events to build your skills, knowledge and confidence as well as network. See some examples further below
• If you're struggling to find work, consider volunteering, ideally for a health or wellbeing related organisation. Your volunteering organisation will likely give you a reference which will could help your case when applying for jobs or dealing with the NMC.

Undertake courses or learning relevant to the area of concern relating to your incident. Aim to be as proactive as possible with this. This demonstrates a commitment to professional growth and dedication to improving your skills and knowledge base.

Please note, the RCN cannot recommend or advise you on which courses/learning to take, whether they are suitable for your specific situation/goals, nor verify the quality of any non RCN courses.

RCN Learn 

RCN Learn offers you easy access to the learning and education you need to fulfil your continuing professional development (CPD) requirements and support the delivery of safe and effective care. 

Other resources

• Elearning for Healthcare (elfh) is a Health Education England programme in partnership with the NHS and professional bodies that delivers more than 400 e-learning programmes.
• RCN Careers: Searching for courses - Tips for finding courses, learning modules, or CPD activities, meeting learning goals, funding options, and examples of online learning.
• RCN events has details of workshops, webinars, lectures, ceremonies and conferences
  
  

Find courses specific to your area of concern

Below are some examples of online courses that relate to the delivery of safe and effective care from platforms such as RCN Learn, RCNi and elfh. This is not an exhaustive list, and we recommend that you carry out as much research as possible to find the right course or learning for your needs.

Safeguarding

• Safeguarding adults at risk of abuse (RCNi Learning)
• Safeguarding Adults (e-lfh)

Medicines Management

• Medicines management in care homes (RCN Learn)
• Reducing medication errors in nursing practice (RCNi Learning)
• Use of patient group directions in medicines management (RCNi Learning)

Drug calculations

• Calculating drug doses (e-lfh)
• How to perform drug calculations for the safe administration of oral medicines (RCNi Learning)

Patient Safety

• Patient Safety and Human Factors (RCN Learn)
• The effect of organisational culture on patient safety (RCNi Learning)
• NHS Patient Safety Syllabus training programme (e-lfh)

Behaviour/Conflict

• Understanding bullying in healthcare organisations (RCNi learning)
• Conflict Resolution (Skills for Health)

Communication

• The SBAR technique for effective communication (RCN Learn)
• Communication in care homes (e-lfh)
• Communicating with empathy (e-lfh) 
• Promoting patient safety through effective communication and teamwork (RCNi Learning)

Record Keeping

• Maintaining best practice in record-keeping and documentation (RCNi Learning)
• Keeping good records (Skills for Health)

Practical Skills

• Practical Skills (RCNi Learning)

Honesty

• The Duty of Candour (Skills for Health)
• Level 3 statutory Duty of Candour
• See also courses relating to ethics and professionalism

Investigations, sanctions and NMC referrals can be a stressful ordeal, which can easily cause loss of confidence, impact on self-esteem and affect emotional wellbeing.

Accessing support can help you reflect on what’s happened and hopefully help you feel more able to move forward. Dealing with any negative emotions before you move on will also ensure you’re in a better frame of mind if you need to apply for a new job, and that prospective employers will see the best of you.

Possible sources of support include:

• The NMC's Fitness to Practice Careline 
• Nurse Lifeline - A free, confidential and peer led listening service for healthcare staff.
• Breathing Space (Scotland only)
• Canopi (Wales only)
• Arranging counselling via your GP, employer's Occupational Health services, or Employee Assistance Scheme
• Counselling through the RCN
• Private counselling

It's possible for nurses or midwives to work within non registered healthcare roles such as Healthcare Assistant, Clinical Support Worker or Assistant Practitioner. If you’re finding it impossible to gain employment because of your disclosure, working in a non-registered healthcare role may be a good stepping stone in the short term as it could enable you to:

• Prove how you’ve moved on since the incident
• Demonstrate commitment to working within the healthcare profession
• Rebuild your confidence and self esteem 
• Get a foot in the door 
• Obtain a further employment reference and/or character reference

When applying for support roles, you’ll still need to be honest with employers about anything that's previously happened, and should also consider the following:

• You will still be accountable to the NMC
• You must still adhere to the NMC code and any other NMC guidelines and standards (e.g. NMC Standards for Medicines Management)
• If you have NMC conditions of practice put in place, you may not be able satisfy all of them
• You will need to be aware of any role boundaries
• Any hours worked within a non registered role will not count towards your revalidation requirements, as you will not be working within your scope as a nurse or midwife

Making a disclosure

When making a disclosure, follow these tips: 

• Be upfront and honest 
• Be concise and factual 
• Always place an emphasis on what you’ve learnt following the incident
• Demonstrate insight and reflection wherever possible
• Describe any formal or informal learning you have completed (e.g. study days, workshops, work based competencies, e-learning, self-directed learning)
• Describe how you have moved forward to address any issues raised (e.g. counselling to improve confidence, training or refresher training, work experience gained)
• Identify any further actions you intend to take or specific support you might need from the employer, whilst remaining clear that you will take ownership of your future development
• Highlight the reasons why you think there's no likelihood of repetition
• Highlight your previously unblemished record, if applicable 
• Sell yourself - focus on all the things you can offer and what you makes you a good healthcare professional

Be concise

Be concise about the incident you're disclosing. Some candidates end up giving lots of detail and information about all the various factors involved in the incident, either because they're nervous, because they're trying to be upfront, or because they're emotional. This approach is seldom successful. Instead, give a succinct account and stick to the facts, placing the emphasis on what you've learnt and what you've done since the incident.

Show accountability

You should also try to avoid being negative about your previous employer or blaming others, even if you have good reason to do so. For example, if you believe poor systems contributed to you making mistakes, outline the facts about the systems in place without passing judgement, and state what you would do if you were in this situation again. This approach will demonstrate professionalism, insight and reflection.

Values based recruitment

Although you may feel nervous about raising these issues, remember that most employers are seeking candidates who can demonstrate honesty, openness and integrity. The majority of employers use Values Based Recruitment and will be assessing candidates to check that they have these qualities. A recruitment panel will usually respect you for taking the difficult step of talking about your situation and showing how you are trying to move forward with your career.  

Some application forms will ask you directly if you have been dismissed, investigated, sanctioned or referred to the NMC/DBS, etc. You must answer honestly.

If you don’t disclose something when you’ve been directly asked to do so, this can lead to withdrawal of a job offer. If you’re a nurse or midwife, you will also be considered in breach of the NMC Code for being dishonest, and may be subsequently be referred to the NMC.

If the application doesn’t directly ask for this information, you can choose to:

• Disclose it somewhere within your application anyway (e.g. covering letter, supporting statement, additional information)
• Wait to see if you get shortlisted, and then contact the employer to disclose it
• Disclose it at interview stage

Remember, your application should ultimately be about how you have the skills and qualities to do the job, so put the focus on this rather than focusing on the incident.

You may prefer to disclose an incident at the interview stage. You could do this at the start of the interview to get it out of the way. Alternatively you may feel you want to bring it up at the end of the interview after you’ve had time to make an impression. It will be a matter of personal preference and judgment.

Practice what you’re going to say and rehearse it several times. If you’d like interview coaching or help with interview techniques, including how to present a disclosure, you can book an appointment with an RCN Careers Coach by calling RCN Direct.

Remember, the interview should be a chance to show how you have the skills and experience required to do the job, rather than focusing on the incident.

NMC fitness to Practice

If a nurse or midwife is referred to the NMC, the NMC might decide to put a ‘conditions of practice order’ in place. This order will specify circumstances or restrictions under which a nurse or midwife can practice.

Each case is different, but common examples of conditions include:

• Being restricted from working in a particular setting
• Being restricted from carrying out some aspects of the job, such as medicines administration without supervision
• Being directed to undertake retraining
• Having regular meetings with a mentor or manager

If you have conditions of practice in place, there is nothing to stop you from applying for healthcare jobs but you’ll have to be up front and honest with any employer. In addition, the employer would need to be made aware of any support or measures needed to satisfy the conditions. 

The NMC has recently published new guidance on Conditions of Practice.

As the NMC states, “It is inevitable that conditions may have the effect of making it more difficult to obtain employment, but this does not mean that the conditions are unworkable.”

Addressing areas of concern

Sometimes the NMC may highlight areas of concern regarding your practice such as medicines management, communication, record keeping, or teamwork. It's recommended that you take a proactive approach to address any such concerns or show that you're willing to improve on your practice.

You may want to see our pages on CPD and searching for courses and examples of free courses for some ideas, as well as the advice below on "courses, e-learning, and professional activities to demonstrate awareness."

Contact the RCN for advice

Contact the RCN Advice Team as soon as you hear from the NMC. Provided that you were in membership at the time of the incident leading to the referral, you'll be referred to the RCN legal department for further support.

Understand the process

Familiarise yourself with the NMC's fitness to practice process. Knowing what to expect can help reduce anxiety and enable you to prepare effectively. The NMC website has a Fitness to Practice Library that provides detailed guidance on how the process works. The NMC also has a support helpline for registrants undergoing fitness to practice proceedings called Careline.

Have realistic expectations

If you’re applying for jobs, bear in mind that it will unfortunately be more difficult to secure employment within a registered role whilst the investigation is pending.

If you cannot gain employment in a registered role because an investigation is pending, consider applying for support worker roles, other healthcare related roles, or roles outside healthcare.

Seek Emotional Support

It's important not to go through this process alone. See the RCN Counselling Service pages for a list of listening services and helplines that you can use for ad hoc support.

The NMC also has a support helpline for registrants undergoing fitness to practice proceedings called Careline.

Getting emotional support can reflect well on you during your NMC case, as you can advise the NMC you’ve taken steps to reflect on what happened and move forward.

Write a reflective account

Writing a reflective account after an incident that has led to an NMC fitness to practice investigation can be a pivotal step and help you to demonstrate good insight. See above for more detailed guidance and resources on writing a reflection.

Stay professionally active

Take a proactive approach to staying as professionally active as possible. This can reflect well on you during your NMC proceedings as it demonstrates a commitment to maintaining and enhancing your professional competence. See Staying Professionally Active under “Practical steps if you’re dismissed or referred to the NMC.” above for more details on learning, attending events, joining forums and volunteering.

Undertake relevant learning and courses

Undertake courses or learning relevant to the area of concern relating to your incident. See Undertake Relevant Learning and Courses under “Practical steps if you’re dismissed or referred to the NMC.” above for more details on learning, attending events, joining forums and volunteering.

Brush up on your application skills

The RCN Careers Service can advise you with CVs and writing applications whether applying for jobs within healthcare or outside healthcare. They also offer one to one interview coaching over the telephone if you do get shortlisted for an interview.

Manage your financial situation

See the RCN Welfare Service and Financial Wellbeing resources for tips on managing your financial situation, budgeting, or seeking financial support.

Applying for jobs

If you need to apply for jobs, the RCN Careers Service has online advice on producing a successful CV, covering letter, or supporting statement including tips, samples, templates and tutorials. We also offer tailored feedback and advice via e-mail. We cannot help you find a job, but we can offer guidance on how to make sure any application you submit is as strong as possible, and offer tips on maximising your employability. See the career coaching page for more details.

Interviews

If you have been offered an interview, you may decide to book in for interview coaching to help you prepare. The interview coaching could include how you will manage any anxiety around disclosing your situation at the interview stage, and/or rehearsing how you will disclose to the employer.

Career crossroads

If you are thinking about changing direction in your career (this could be within healthcare or outside healthcare) or leaving nursing, you may want to explore our career crossroads resources on the career coaching page. You may also consider booking a career coaching appointment.

Career Coaches cannot tell you which path you should take, which jobs would be suitable for you, or which employers would be likely to hire you, but they can listen to your ideas, help you reflect on what's important to you, and give you a safe space to explore any emotions you might be feeling, such as shame, loss of confidence, anxiety, fear, etc.

Managing emotions

If emotions such as loss of confidence, anxiety, shame, fear, etc. are hindering your progress or blocking you from moving forward, you may want to consider career coaching. Career coaches will never try and "fix" you, or tell you what to do, but they can offer you a safe space to explore these emotions and reflect upon your situation, encourage you to move forward, and empower you to come up with your own solutions.

You may also want to consider counselling with the RCN.