Get notified when new graduate content drops.
Continuing professional development (CPD) is “the process in which health professionals maintain, improve and broaden their knowledge, expertise and competence, and develop the personal and professional qualities required throughout their professional lives”.
(This definition comes from the Nurses and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) Registration standard: Continuing professional development CPD registration standard, and it’s worth reading).
Who wrote this Guide?
Zoe Youl is a critical care registered nurse with over a 10 years experience in healthcare education. As Head of Community at Ausmed Education, she helps shape learning and development strategies for healthcare professionals. Zoe holds a Master of Nursing (Management and Leadership), has worked internationally, setting standards in Nursing Professional Development, and is the Director of Ausmed’s accredited provider unit.
Passionate about supporting the next generation of nurses, Zoe is here to share insights that will help students and Graduates navigate their first few challenging years in the profession, build confidence, and prepare for a successful career in healthcare.
You might have heard about CPD hours and may even know that you must complete at least 20 of them yearly. We’ll cover this in more detail.
However, CPD is more than completing a certain number of hours. If you are audited, you will need to demonstrate that you have met all of the requirements outlined in the registration standard. Failure to meet the required standards in full may suspend or cancel your registration and ability to practice.
The registration period for all nurses and midwives is 1 June—31 May every year. That means if you are a registered or enrolled nurse, a midwife or a nurse practitioner, you must renew your registration with the NMBA by 31st May every year to continue practising.
When you renew your registration each year, you must declare that you have complied with all of the registration standards, including the registration standard for continuing professional development and professional indemnity insurance.
This means that the CPD Deadline is 31 May every year!
At renewal, you are professionally declaring that this is a ‘true and correct’ record of your practice during the registration period. It’s a serious and important submission. Submitting a false declaration may result in action being taken against your registration. Watch this video on renewing your registration.
Key Point - If you're a nurse or a midwife, your CPD Deadline is the 31st of May every year.
Firstly, when we calculate the CPD requirements we as nurses and midwives need to attain each year, it’s important to recognise that this is the minimum amount recommended. Most people will participate in much more than 20 hours per year. This is especially true if you’re completing a unit of postgraduate study. You might find yourself doing over 100 hours of CPD.
The 20 hour minimum applies to nurses and midwives who are:
Once you graduate and obtain your registratio, your primary profession will be listed as a Registered nurse (RN). Your registration type changes from student to practising, which is when your CPD requirements kick in.
Calculating CPD hours for nurses who are also midwives, have an endorsement (such as a nurse practitioner), and are non-practising is complicated. This article will keep things simple, but if you want to learn more, check out a free CPD course I’ve created.
For most of your career, you must complete at least 20 hours of CPD per year (unless you obtain an endorsement, as noted above).
However, the good news is that because many new nurses first become registered part way through the registration year, from between November to January, at the end of completing formal study, you are not expected to complete the full 20 hours of CPD before your first CPD deadline on the 31st May.
Pro-rata CPD is relevant if you registered for less than 12 months before renewing your registration before 31 May. As per the table below, if the NMBA approves your registration in January, you only need to do 10 hours of CPD.
Here are the requirements as stated in the CPD Guidelines.
| Months registration has been held | CPD hours |
|---|---|
| 0-3 months | ≥ 5 hours |
| 3-6 months | ≥ 10 hours |
| 6-9 months | ≥ 15 hours |
| 9-12 months | ≥ 20 hours |
| Source |
Check Your Knowledge
If you're a nurse or a midwife, your CPD Deadline is the 31st of May every year.
Ali is a recently graduated nurse. Completed Bachelor of Nursing coursework in November 2024. Final placement in December 2024.
Her registration was approved in January 2025.
Ali started her Grad Year at a large private hospital in Melbourne in February intake of 2025.
She renewed her registration in May 2025. At registration renewal, she needed to declare that she had met all of the requirements outlined in the registration standard for CPD.
Question: How much CPD did she need to complete?
Answer: 10 hours.
Rationale: Although she has only been working for four months (Feb-May), she has held her registration since January. Pro-rata CPD is calculated according to the months since registration has been held, not since starting work.
With her orientation and study days, she likely has more than met this requirement. As long as the CPD was relevant to her practice context and the other requirements (that we will keep covering in other articles) were met, she has likely met the registration standard.
Knowing how many CPD hours you need to do, especially when you first register and each year thereafter, is really important, especially as your career grows and changes. Hours are just one aspect of meeting your CPD requirements.
Read on to learn more about the CPD cycle, how to decide what CPD to do, how to reflect and document your CPD and how it’s audited.
Ausmed Education is a Trusted Information Partner of Healthdirect Australia. Verify here.