Most nurses already get practice-related feedback. A colleague comments after a difficult shift. A student says your teaching helped. A patient thanks you. An appraisal picks up a theme you already knew was there. The hard part is not hearing it. It is capturing five useful pieces before your Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) revalidation date, without turning it into a paperwork chase.
For NMC revalidation you must collect five pieces of practice-related feedback in the three years since you last renewed, or since you joined the register. The Council's own page is here: Practice-related feedback.
You do not need five formal letters on headed paper. Feedback can be written or verbal, formal or informal, positive or constructive. What matters is that it relates to your practice, that you can talk about what you learnt, and that your notes never identify another person.
What the Nursing and Midwifery Council requires
The requirement is straightforward:
collect five pieces of practice-related feedback in your three-year revalidation period;
keep a note of the content, including how you used it to improve your practice;
make sure those notes contain no information that could identify a patient, service user, carer, colleague or anyone else, whether they are alive or deceased.
When you submit through MyNMC, you declare that you have met the requirement. You do not upload the five pieces themselves. You may still need the notes if you are selected for verification, and your confirmer should be satisfied that you have obtained the feedback. Keep the full process nearby in How to revalidate with the NMC (PDF).
You can collect more than five pieces. Many people do, then choose the five that show the clearest learning. Five is the minimum, not a target to stop at if useful feedback keeps arriving.
What counts as practice-related feedback
The Nursing and Midwifery Council wants you to be open to the people you work with and care for, then use what they tell you. Feedback can be about your individual practice, or about your team, ward, unit or organisation, as long as you can say what it meant for your practice.
Useful sources include:
Patients, service users and carers: a thank you, a concern, a comment in a clinic, or feedback gathered through a service questionnaire (used with consent and without identifying anyone).
Colleagues: nurses, midwives, nursing associates, doctors, allied health professionals, healthcare assistants, reception and management.
Students and learners: people you have mentored, preceptored or taught.
Your annual appraisal: this is one of the sources the Council explicitly lists.
Team reports and reviews: team performance reports, serious event reviews, complaints, or debriefs, again only where you have permission to use the information and no one can be identified.
The form can vary. A short verbal comment after handover can count if you write a careful note afterwards. A 360-style form from colleagues can count. A complaint can count, if you treat it as learning rather than as a file to hide. Positive feedback counts too. The Council is not only looking for criticism.
A simple test
Ask yourself three questions:
Does this relate to my practice as a nurse, midwife or nursing associate?
Can I say what I learnt, or what I changed?
Can I record it without identifying anyone?
If the answer is yes to all three, it is likely to be useful. If you cannot remember what was said, or you cannot anonymise it, choose a different piece.
What does not work well
These are the patterns that tend to cause last-minute stress:
A vague compliment with no content. "You're great" is kind. It does not help you reflect, and it is hard for a confirmer to take seriously on its own.
Identifiable detail. Names, bed numbers, rare diagnoses, exact dates that pinpoint a person, or a story only one family would recognise.
Copied employer records. The Nursing and Midwifery Council is clear: do not forward work emails to a personal account, and do not download copies of employer records. If you use organisational feedback, extract a non-identifiable note and seek consent where you need it.
Five pieces from the same afternoon. It can technically be five pieces. It is weaker evidence of ongoing professional attention. Spread collection across the three years if you can.
Feedback you never look at again. The point is not a pile of forms. It is using the feedback to assess and improve practice, which then feeds your written reflective accounts.
How to ask without making it awkward
Asking for feedback can feel like asking for a favour. Keep the request small, specific and professional.
If you are asking a colleague, try:
"I am collecting practice-related feedback for NMC revalidation. If you are willing, I would value one or two observations about how I communicate in the team or how I support learners. Please do not include anyone's name or details that could identify a patient."
If you are asking a patient or service user, be even clearer:
explain that it is for your professional development and revalidation;
say that it will not affect their care, whether they take part or not;
ask them not to include names or details that could identify them or anyone else;
give them an easy way to say no.
You do not have to ask five different people in one week. One good conversation after a teaching session, one note from appraisal, and one piece of service-user feedback already puts you well on the way. Bank, agency and community colleagues can ask the people they actually work with on those shifts. The Council does not require the feedback to come from a permanent team.
If asking face to face feels heavy, a short written request often works better. People can reply when they have a minute, and you are less likely to lose the comment in a WhatsApp thread.
How to record feedback safely
The Nursing and Midwifery Council recommends keeping a note of the content and how you used it. There is a recommended practice-related feedback log on the Council's forms and templates page. You do not have to use that exact file, but your notes should do the same job.
For each piece, capture:
when it happened (month and year is usually enough);
the source in general terms, such as "colleague", "student", "service user", "appraisal" or "team review";
what was said or observed, stripped of identifying detail;
what you did with it: a change in practice, a discussion with your team, CPD, or a reflective account.
An anonymised note might look like this:
March 2026. Feedback from a student after a medicines round. They said I explained the checks clearly, but went too quickly when a patient asked a question. I slowed the next teaching session, practised teach-back, and used this in a reflective account linked to prioritise people and practise effectively.
That is enough. You do not need a transcript. You do need to be able to talk about it with your confirmer and, if you choose, turn it into one of your five reflective accounts.
Apply the same anonymity rules you would for reflection. Remove names, unusual clinical details and workplace clues that make a person recognisable. The Council covers this under non-identifiable information in How to revalidate with the NMC.
Using feedback in a reflective account
Feedback is one of the three things a written reflective account can be based on, alongside CPD and an event or experience in your practice. You can use a piece of feedback as the starting point, then show what you learnt and how it links to The Code.
A simple path is:
collect the feedback and write a short anonymous note;
notice the learning (communication, safety, teamwork, medicines, leadership, or supporting learners);
decide one practical change;
when it is still fresh, transfer it onto the mandatory NMC reflective accounts form;
bring that account to your reflective discussion.
You do not need five reflective accounts that are all based on feedback. Mix sources if that reflects real practice. For the method, see How to reflect as a registered nurse for revalidation. If the feedback came from a hard moment, Reflecting on mistakes and incidents as a nurse may help you write it with honesty and care.
What to show your confirmer
Your confirmer is not marking the quality of the comments. They need to be satisfied that you have obtained five pieces of practice-related feedback. Have the notes ready, plus any reflective accounts that grew out of them. A tidy log is easier to review than a folder of screenshots, thank you cards and forwarded emails.
Before the meeting:
pick your five strongest pieces;
check every note for anonymity;
be ready to say, in a sentence, what you changed as a result;
keep the rest of your portfolio close, because confirmation covers more than feedback. Our overview is here: NMC revalidation requirements.
A calm plan over three years
If you wait until the month before MyNMC opens, feedback becomes another deadline. A lighter rhythm works better:
Year one: capture two pieces while they are still ordinary: one from a colleague or student, one from appraisal or a service user.
Year two: add two more from different sources if you can, so the set is not all from one team.
Year three: add the fifth, write any reflective accounts that still need doing, and put the log in front of your confirmer.
Set a reminder when you know your revalidation date. Official notices still come through MyNMC. A personal nudge helps you collect evidence in the middle years, not only at the end. See Free NMC revalidation reminders for UK nurses.
Common questions
Do I have to collect feedback from patients?
No. Patients and service users are a valuable source, but the five pieces can come from a variety of people and settings. Colleague, student and appraisal feedback all count.
Does verbal feedback count?
Yes. Write it down soon afterwards, without identifying anyone, and note how you used it.
Can a complaint count?
Yes, if it relates to practice and you can learn from it. Record it carefully, anonymously, and focus on what changed afterwards.
Do I submit the five pieces to the NMC?
No. You declare that you have met the requirement. Keep the notes in case of verification, and so your confirmer can see that you have done the work.
What if I work bank or agency shifts?
Collect feedback from the people you actually work with on those shifts, in the same anonymised way. You do not need a permanent line manager to have heard every comment, though you will still need a confirmer for the wider revalidation process.
How ReflectRN can support you
ReflectRN helps you send a secure link and collect colleague feedback in one place, so you are not chasing screenshots across email and chat. You can keep the notes alongside CPD and practice hours, then come back to them when you write reflective accounts. It is not part of the Nursing and Midwifery Council, and it does not replace MyNMC or the Council's templates. Use it to organise evidence, then transfer what you need onto official NMC forms when you revalidate.
