Understanding pre-registration nursing fitness to practise processes

Diverse fitness to practise processes are currently in place for Scottish pre-registration nursing students. These processes draw on a shared set of principles but are couched in different terminology and vary according to their location within different university structures. Nevertheless, universities appear to be confronting broadly similar issues around ensuring fitness to practise and are building a body of expertise in this area. Examples of good practice are identified and include the use of staged processes and graduated outcomes, the incorporation of teaching about fitness to practise into nursing programmes, positive attitudes around health and disability, and collaborative decision making. Areas of challenge include systems for student support and consistent, equitable, and auditable fitness to practise processes.