As 2024 comes to a close I would like to acknowledge the work of our nurses and midwives who have consistently acted in the best interests of those they care for while upholding the standards and integrity of the professions.

As a Board, we have continued to focus on our strategic goals in providing leadership and ensuring that our model of regulation enhances public safety, promotes high standards of education, training and practice, and attracts and retains registrants. .

In April, we were delighted to announce the appointment of Carolyn Donohoe as NMBI Interim CEO. Carolyn has been part of our senior management team since 2021 and brings a wealth of experience to the role. She replaces Sheila McClelland who served as CEO for five years. On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Sheila for her enormous contribution to NMBI.

We also welcomed Dr Karn Cliffe as Director of Professional Standards – Midwifery who joined our senior management team in 2024. Since April, Karn has also taken on the role of Director of Education, Policy and Standards on an interim basis and she has worked to deliver on our progressive strategies for the professions.

This year we wanted to ensure that we continued to have open and productive conversations with our registrants and stakeholders. In July, we jointly hosted the ‘Education Excellence in Nursing and Midwifery’ conference with the Chief Nurse's Office in the Department of Health. The conference, held in Dublin Castle, allowed us to have discussions with our stakeholders on key areas of nursing and midwifery education. We would like to thank them for collaborating with us for the event.

In 2024, I was delighted to take part in the Women in Leadership podcast with Angie Mezzetti which highlights the role of women who have made it to leadership levels. In the podcast, I spoke about the importance of well-being and self-care, as well as the challenges facing nurses and midwives.

This year, we asked you, our registrants and the public for your feedback on the revised Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics. We aim to ensure that this key document continues to provide the most up-to-date legislative and guidance changes. Based on your feedback we will publish the new Code in 2025.

At Board level, an election was held to appoint three new members. I would like to congratulate the successful candidates, Somy Thomas, Gráinne Gaffney and Marie Lavelle as well as my colleagues Áine Lynch and Louise Collins who were re-appointed. The new appointments will be made following confirmation by the Minister for Health.

I would like to thank the Board and committee members for their valued contribution. I would like to welcome Nadine Farah who joined the Board in March and say farewell to outgoing Board members, Thomas Glynn; Marian Vaughan; Joseph Shalbin; Richard Bruton and Don Faller and express my appreciation of their time and considerable efforts over the course of their tenure.

As we enter the final year of our Statement of Strategy, I am proud of what we achieved so far and we will remain focused on protecting, promoting and progressing the nursing and midwifery professions in 2025. Together, we would like to acknowledge and express our thanks to NMBI's executive and NMBI staff members for their hard work and commitment. Finally, on behalf of the Board, I would like to take the opportunity to express our appreciation for the important contribution you have made and continue to make. You have shown dedication and compassion throughout the year and we thank you for all that you have done.

We wish you all a very happy Christmas and we look forward to working with you in the New Year.

As we approach Christmas, I would like to take a moment to express my gratitude and thank you for the work you do. Thank you for your continued dedication and commitment to upholding the highest standards of practice. Whether you are providing direct care, leading services through education, research and policy, or supporting colleagues in protecting the public in their healthcare journey, your contributions are essential to the provision of healthcare in Ireland. 

2024 has been a very busy year for NMBI and one of growth and achievements.

I am delighted to say that in 2024, we earned the Great Place to Work® certification for a second time. Based on feedback from our staff members on the culture of our organisation, we received high levels of trust in management, leadership, communication and involvement, recognition and engagement. I would like to recognise my colleagues across NMBI for all their hard work and achievements throughout the year and give you a flavour of some of the achievements this year.

Education, Policy and Standards

Our Education, Standards and Policy Department continued their work to support the day-to-day practice of nurses and midwives through the development of professional guidance and standards. This year, we asked for your feedback on two core documents. We held public consultations on the Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics and the Professional Competence Scheme Guideline for Registered Nurses and Registered Midwives. I would like to thank all those who contributed. Your views are important to us and we will be publishing the new documents in 2025.

In July, we held the ‘Education Excellence in Nursing and Midwifery’ conference with the Chief Nurse's Office in the Department of Health. The day was a great opportunity to celebrate all those who provide innovative teaching and learning, in both the education setting and in practice.

As part of our commitment to promote nursing and midwifery as a career, we ran an Instagram campaign earlier this year. The campaign was hugely successful and featured the stories and experiences of students and recent graduates.

In September, we attend the National Ploughing Championships to promote awareness of NMBI and the professions. We met with the public, our nursing and midwifery colleagues as well as future nurses and midwives. I would like to thank NMBI staff members who helped at our stand and our colleagues from Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise; the NMPDU and Regional Hospital Mullingar for their support. 

We also attended the Irish Times Higher Options fair, in partnership with our colleagues from the Office of Nursing and Midwifery Service Director (ONMSD), where me meet with second level students from across the country.

In November, we were delighted to launch our Student Nurse Ambassador Forum. 21 student nurses from the four primary nursing divisions, General Nursing; General and Children’s Nursing; Mental Health Nursing and Intellectual Disability Nursing were appointed as our ambassadors for the coming year. We hope they will inspire the next generation of students interested in a career that makes a difference.

Registration

Our Registration Department had an extremely busy year as the number of nurses and midwives on our Register continues to increase.

Last month, we published the annual State of the Register report. The data we gather allows us to share emerging trends in health service staffing, to assist our stakeholders in future planning and aims to inform positive changes within the healthcare sector. This report paints a positive picture and it is very encouraging to see that Ireland continues to attract and retain nurses and midwives.

In May, to mark the International Day of the Midwife and International Day of the Nurse, we briefed members of the Oireachtas at Leinster House. Our Director of Registration, Dr Ray Healy provided Deputies and Senators with an overview of Register and we were delighted to be joined by NMBI Board member, Mittu Alungal; Student Midwife, Shannon McHugh; Clinical Nurse Manager, Orla Staveley; Advanced Nurse Practitioner, Antoinette Doherty and Director of Nursing, Sharon Slattery.

The briefing is part of our commitment to promote the professions of nursing and midwifery and to shine a light on the vital work of our registrants.

In June, we published new guidance to support Internationally Educated Nurses (IENs) who are completing an adaptation assessment programme in Ireland. The development of the guidance documents was the result of a series of focus groups and consultations with our stakeholders.

Fitness to Practise

In our Fitness to Practise Department, we have placed significant emphasis on how the complaints process is dealt with. We want to ensure that we handle all complaints compassionately and throughout the year, we held information sessions with registrants across the country. Feedback from the sessions has been very positive and we plan to continue these in 2025.

This year we partnered with CORU; the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland; the Veterinary Council; the Dental Council and the Medical Council of Ireland to host a healthcare regulator fitness to practise conference.

This was the second year of the conference which focused on ‘The Case for Reform in Fitness to Practise Matters’. We would like to thank Mr Justice Barniville, President of High Court of Ireland and Remy Farrell SC who presided over the conference and facilitated the discussions. A special thanks also to Rossa Fanning, Attorney General and each of our speakers including Patrick Leonard SC; Gary Rice, DAC Beachcroft; Tricia Skeffington BL; Eileen Barrington SC; Stephen McLoughlin, AG Law; Patricia Dillon SC; William Kennedy, IMC and Graham Mockler, Director of Regulation and Accreditation at the UK Professional Standards Authority.

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I would like to acknowledge my former colleague and CEO, Sheila McClelland. Having worked alongside her for three years, I have had the pleasure and privilege of learning so much from her about the regulation industry. I appreciate the dedication and guidance she showed during her tenure and I, along with the senior management team and all at NMBI, would like to wish her the best in the future.

I would also like to thank my colleague Dr Karn Cliff who joined us in January as Director of Professional Standards – Midwifery and who has also been leading the Education, Policy and Standards Department since my appointment as interim CEO.

To all our nursing and midwifery colleagues, I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest appreciation for your exceptional service and dedication. As we enter the final year of our Statement of Strategy, we have big plans and with your continued support and collaboration, I am confident that we will achieve our strategic priorities.

I hope you take time over the Christmas period to relax, recharge and enjoy the holiday season.

On behalf of the entire NMBI team, I want to extend my warmest wishes for a happy Christmas and New Year. We look forward to a bright and successful 2025.

We would like to advise registrants who are completing their annual renewal of our Christmas and New Year opening hours.  

The 2025 annual registration renewal window is open until 31 January 2025. To date more than 43,000 nurses and midwives have renewed their registration and we would like to sincerely thank them for completing the process.  

The annual renewal process must be completed through our online portal, MyNMBI. We cannot accept annual renewal payments by phone. Renewals can be done on a mobile however, for the best experience, we recommend using a laptop or desktop. 

We have developed several useful guides to assist registrants through the process. They can be found on our website.  

Registrants can voluntarily remove their name from the Register of Nurses and Midwives on MyNMBI, free of charge until 31 January 2025. More information about the voluntarily removal process can be found on our website.  

The annual registration fee goes towards our work to support nurses and midwives to provide the highest standards of professional practice. Through our registration, education and guidance, and fitness to practise functions we enhance the safety of service users. Further information about the work we do can be found on our website.  

Support during the Christmas period  

For any queries or support, you can contact or customer care centre by phone on 0818 200 116 (+353 818 200 116 from outside Ireland), or by email at regservices@nmbi.ie.  

When contacting us, please provide your name, Personal Identification Number (PIN) and date of birth to ensure we can deal with your query efficiently. 

Our opening times over this period can be found below. 

Important information  

All nurses or midwives practising in Ireland are required by law to have their name on the Register of Nurses and Midwives. To maintain their registration, it is necessary to pay the annual renewal fee.  

If you do not renew or voluntarily remove your registration, your name will be removed from the Register. The Board considers removals from the Register for failure to pay the annual renewal fee (Section77 (1) of the Nurses and Midwives Act 2011). Please note that notifications of removals are sent to employers, the Minister for Health and the Health Service Executive (under Section 82 of the Act).  

If your name is removed from the Register for non-payment of your annual renewal fee and you wish to restore your name to the Register, a fee of €250 in addition to your annual renewal fee will apply. You will also need to comply with the restoration requirements at the time of application.  

NMBI is legally required to maintain statistical records for research and planning purposes. As part of the renewal process, we will collect personal data which will be collected, maintained and processed in accordance with all data protection legislation. For more details on how we process your personal data please visit our privacy notice. 

Are Your Contact Details Up to Date? 

We would like to remind all registrants and candidates to ensure that their contact details are correct and up to date.

From time to time, NMBI will need to contact you and therefore it is important that your contact information including your postal address, email address, phone number and employment details are up to date.

We would advise that you log into your account on MyNMBI and check that all your information is correct. If any of your contact information changes, please ensure that you update your details on the portal within 30 days.

This is a legal requirement under Section 53 of the Nurses and Midwives Act 2011, as amended.

As part of our ongoing Compassion Project, we held several online and in-person information sessions, speaking with more than 2,600 registrants.

During the sessions, Niamh McDonald and Jeanne Tarrant from our Fitness to Practise Department (FTP) provided an overview of the FTP process with case studies as well as data on recent complaints we have received. 

The sessions were carried out in collaboration with Blackrock Health Hermitage Clinic; the Centre for Nursing and Midwifery Education Sligo; Connolly Hospital; the Coombe Hospital; Cork University Maternity Hospital;, the Centre for Nursing and Midwifery Education Donegal; Nursing Homes Ireland; St James’s Hospital; St Mary’s Hospital;, Tallaght University Hospital; University College Dublin and UPMC Aut Even Hospital, Kilkenny.

Throughout the year, they met with registrants to promote a better understanding of the complaints process. We are very grateful for the support we received and we plan to continue the sessions in 2025.

If you would like to find out more, please contact our Liaison Officer, Niamh at liaison@nmbi.ie.

The World Health Organization (WHO)/Europe, as part of a project funded by the European Commission, are asking nurses, midwives and doctors to complete this first-of-its-kind survey on mental health and well-being, to understand the challenges the professions face in their work environments. 

The survey takes an average of 12 minutes to complete and can be found here.

The responses gathered will be used to gain greater understanding of the key factors affecting the mental health and well-being of healthcare professionals and provide a strong evidence base to guide effective strategies for improving working conditions.

By participating in this survey, you will have the opportunity to share your personal reflections and aspirations to shape future policies designed to improve their working conditions and ensure long-term well-being on a global level.