Referencing the NMC Code
The NMC Code is published by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, so the Code itself is the author of the document. That single fact is what most referencing mistakes get wrong: the author is the organisation, not a named person.
A reference to the Code has the same building blocks in every style:
- Author: Nursing and Midwifery Council
- Year: the year of the edition you are citing
- Title: the full title of the Code as it appears on the cover or web page
- Place and publisher, or the URL and access date if you read it online
Before you write the reference, open the Code on the official NMC website and copy the year and the exact title from there. The Code has been revised over time, so use the year shown on the version you actually read rather than a date you half remember. We have deliberately not stated a year in the examples below for the same reason.
Harvard Reference
Harvard is the style most UK nursing programmes ask for. The reference-list entry follows the author, year, title, place and publisher order. For the online version you give the URL and the date you accessed it.
A Harvard entry for the printed or PDF Code looks like this, with you filling in the year and the exact title from the official page:
Nursing and Midwifery Council (YEAR) The Code: Professional standards of practice and behaviour for nurses, midwives and nursing associates. London: Nursing and Midwifery Council.
For the online version, add the access details:
Nursing and Midwifery Council (YEAR) The Code: Professional standards of practice and behaviour for nurses, midwives and nursing associates. Available at: https://www.nmc.org.uk/standards/code/ (Accessed: DAY MONTH YEAR).
The matching in-text citation is short. You name the author and the year, and add a section or page number when you quote a specific standard:
The Code requires nurses to act in the best interests of people at all times (Nursing and Midwifery Council, YEAR).
Check your own university's referencing handbook, because Harvard has small house variations between institutions and your marker will follow the local guide.
APA Reference
Some programmes use APA instead. The structure is similar, with the year in brackets after the author and the title in italics. APA does not usually require an access date for a stable web page.
Nursing and Midwifery Council. (YEAR). The code: Professional standards of practice and behaviour for nurses, midwives and nursing associates. https://www.nmc.org.uk/standards/code/
The APA in-text citation places the year in brackets after the author:
Nursing and Midwifery Council (YEAR) sets out the standards that registered professionals must uphold.
As with Harvard, confirm the exact format against your course's APA guidance, since the edition of APA your school uses can change small details of punctuation.
Referencing the Code in Revalidation and Reflective Writing
You do not only cite the Code in essays. Internationally educated nurses and student nurses also need to refer to it in reflective accounts, in revalidation paperwork, and in written reflections that link practice back to professional standards.
In that kind of writing you usually name the relevant theme or principle rather than quote a long passage. For example, you might write that a piece of feedback related to the Prioritise people theme of the Code, then add a short citation so it is clear which document you mean. The four themes of the Code are explained in our guide to the four principles of the NMC Code, which is a useful reference point when you map a reflection to a specific standard.
The principle is the same whether you are writing an assignment or a reflective account: name the Code as the author, give the year of the version you used, and point the reader to the exact part you are relying on.
Common Referencing Mistakes
A few errors come up again and again when nurses reference the Code:
- Citing a secondary source. If you read about the Code in a textbook, cite the Code itself where you can, because it is freely available, rather than citing the textbook that summarised it.
- Using the wrong year. The Code has been updated, so quoting an older year against the current wording is a factual error. Always take the year from the version you read.
- Treating the NMC as a person. The author is the organisation, written in full as Nursing and Midwifery Council, and not an individual.
- Leaving out the access date for the online version in Harvard. If you read the Code on the website, Harvard wants the date you accessed it.
Practise the NMC Code for Free
Knowing how to cite the Code matters for your written work, and knowing how to apply the Code matters for the CBT. The exam presents realistic scenarios and asks you to choose the most appropriate action, which is exactly where a solid grasp of the Code pays off.
The first module on NMC Prep, Professional Practice and the NMC Code, is free with no card required, and it includes a dedicated unit on the NMC Code and professional standards. If you want a fuller walkthrough of how the Code is structured and tested, read the NMC Code explained, then sign up and start practising the scenario questions today.