NMC Code Section 9: Share Skills, Experience and Knowledge

Section 9 of the Code covers the registrant’s contribution to the development of the profession.

“Share your skills, knowledge and experience for the benefit of people receiving care and your colleagues.”

Sub-clauses:

• 9.1 Provide honest, accurate and constructive feedback to colleagues.
• 9.2 Gather and reflect on feedback from a variety of sources, using it to improve your practice and performance.
• 9.3 Deal with differences of professional opinion with colleagues by discussion and informed debate, respecting their views and opinions and behaving in a professional way at all times.
• 9.4 Support students’ and colleagues’ learning to help them develop their professional competence and confidence.

The section is shorter than many others but its scope is the long-term health of the nursing profession. Most senior nurses spend significant time on Section 9 activities even when they don’t recognise them as such.

What it means in practice

Three categories of Section 9 activity:

Teaching individuals. Acting as a practice supervisor or practice assessor under the NMC’s Standards for Student Supervision and Assessment (SSSA). Mentoring junior colleagues. Buddying newly qualified nurses through preceptorship.

Teaching groups. Running training sessions, presenting at journal clubs, leading reflective practice groups, delivering trust-mandated training.

Developing the profession. Contributing to quality improvement projects, participating in audit cycles, contributing to research, writing for professional journals, contributing to guideline development.

Section 9 activity is also among the most useful CPD you can do for your own revalidation. Time spent supervising students counts as participatory CPD for you. Teaching peers counts. Quality improvement involvement counts.

Common breaches

Section 9 breaches are rare in standalone form. They tend to appear as part of wider concerns:

• Poor mentorship: failing to support a student adequately during placement.
• Refusal to share knowledge: withholding information that colleagues need (often part of a wider Section 8 cooperative working issue).
• Inadequate feedback: providing only positive feedback to colleagues out of conflict avoidance, leaving performance issues unaddressed.
• Failure to engage in own development: refusing to accept feedback or to act on it.

CPD that maps to Section 9

• Practice supervisor and practice assessor training: the SSSA standards cover what you need to know.
• Teaching and assessment courses at certificate level (often offered by trusts and universities).
• Leadership development programmes.
• Quality improvement training: NHS England runs accessible QI training.
• Research methods for evidence-based practice projects.
• Coaching and mentoring courses for those wanting to formalise their mentoring practice.

Common reflective account themes

Strong Section 9 accounts describe:

• A specific student you supervised and what you learned from the supervisory relationship.
• A teaching session you delivered and how it affected the team’s practice afterwards.
• A quality improvement project you led or contributed to.
• A feedback conversation with a peer that was difficult but improved their practice.

The accounts that work usually feature reciprocal learning: the supervisor learns from the supervisee, the teacher learns from the team. The accounts that don’t work present the supervisor or teacher as the source of all wisdom.

Where Section 9 connects to other sections

• Section 8 (cooperative working): sharing knowledge is part of cooperation.
• Section 11 (delegation): knowing what to delegate requires shared knowledge.
• Section 25 (leadership): Section 9 is where leadership shows up day-to-day for most registrants.

The next chapter covers Code Section 10: keeping clear and accurate records.