Reference the 6Cs of Nursing using the original policy document: Department of Health (2012) Compassion in Practice: Nursing, Midwifery and Care Staff – Our Vision and Strategy, London: Department of Health, following your required referencing style such as APA or Harvard.
The 6Cs are Care, Compassion, Competence, Communication, Courage and Commitment. NHS England introduced them as core values underpinning nursing, midwifery and care staff practice, and they remain a common framework nursing students are asked to discuss or apply in reflective and critical analysis essays.
In-text, cite it as (Department of Health, 2012) immediately after any sentence discussing the 6Cs, then list the full reference alphabetically under ‘D’ in your bibliography. Harvard and APA formats look almost identical for this particular source.
When applying the 6Cs in a practice-based essay, link each value to a specific example from placement or a case study rather than listing them generically. Our nursing essay writing help can show you how examiners expect this evidence to be structured.
Consistent referencing matters for the mark scheme as much as content, so double-check your reference list formatting against your module guide. If you are structuring a longer piece around the 6Cs, our essay structure guide explains how to organise multiple themes clearly.


