The NMBI Board and staff would like to wish all registrants and stakeholders a happy Christmas.

We look forward to working with you in the New Year. 

To mark 100 years of Midwifery Regulation in Ireland, NMBI hosted a national conference to celebrate the regulation and development of the midwifery profession.

The President of the NMBI, Essene Cassidy opened the conference and chaired the first panel. The keynote for the session was Breedagh Hughes, RCM Northern Ireland Regional Officer (retired). Topics included a history of midwifery regulation, what constitutes good regulation, a lawyer’s view and resilience and professional wellbeing.

This was followed by a panel session on the development of the profession of midwifery, which covered the politics of midwifery regulation, women’s views regarding mental health in the perinatal period, interventions to support breastfeeding and asked if neonatal units are providing culturally sensitive care to infants.

Dr Sally Pairman, CEO of the International Confederation of Midwives told the conference that “midwives need to reclaim midwifery for midwives”. She said “midwives need to be at the table, not on the menu” when it comes to making decisions about health policy and maternity services. She said three points in particular need to be used to make the case for midwifery and the funding of midwifery to Ministers for Health, politicians and policy makers.

1. When educated to international standards and within a fully functional health system, midwives can provide 87% of the essential care for women and newborns.
2. Midwives have the potential to reduce maternal and newborn mortality by two thirds.
3. The Lancet Health Series has stated that even a 25% increase in midwifery in developing countries would result in a 50% reduction in maternal deaths.

The main panel discussion of the day was chaired by the journalist Kathy Sheridan of the Irish Times. The final session was chaired by Dr Denise Lawlor, Chair of the NMBI Midwives Committee and included student reflections on midwifery. 

The keynote ‘The next 100 years of midwifery in Ireland’ was given by Professor Cecily Begley.

Powerpoint presentations are now available on our website.

The Annual Retention Fee (ARF) for 2019 is due for payment before 31st of December 2018.

Method of payment

The majority of nurses and midwives pay their Annual Retention Fee online using My Account.

We encourage all nurses and midwives to set up an online account to pay the ARF or other fees online, check the account balance and download forms.

If you are unable to pay online you can phone 1890 200 116 to make your payment by debit or credit card. This line is open from 9.00am – 5.30pm Monday to Friday.

Issuing of certs during the holiday period

Following payment of your ARF, the Annual Certificate will issue to you within 7 working days excluding holidays. Delays may be expected over the Christmas holiday period.

Checking you are on the Register

Both you and your employer may check your registration status online (Check the Register). All you need to provide is your PIN or your registered name (both first and last name). The Check the Register page contains the registration status, the registration expiry date and the division(s) in which nurse or midwife is registered. This is updated every 48 hours (working days).

Voluntary Removal from the Register

Many nurses and midwives chose to remove their name from the Register for reasons such as retirement, undertaking a career break or working abroad. The Voluntary Removal form can be found here. If at a later date you decide to restore your name to the Register, you will be able to do that by filling out the Restoration Form and complying with any conditions for registration at that point.

Legal and professional responsibility to be on the Register
 
If you do not pay your ARF, NMBI will not be able to update your registration and issue you with an Annual Retention Certificate for 2019.

It is your professional and legal responsibility to ensure your name is on the Register if you are engaged in the practice of nursing or midwifery.  Practice includes clinical practice, nursing/midwifery management, education or research. Failure to pay your ARF on time may result in your name being removed from the Register. It is illegal to practise nursing or midwifery in Ireland if your name has been removed from the Register.

NMBI is the regulator for the professions of nursing and midwifery. It sets the standards for the education, registration and professional conduct of nurses and midwives. The purpose of the NMBI Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics for Registered Nurses and Registered Midwives (December 2014) is to guide nurses and midwives and to help them understand their professional responsibilities.

The NMBI Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics for Registered Nurses and Registered Midwives deals with the issue of conscientious objection under Principle 2: Professional responsibility and accountability. 

• Standard of conduct 7. “If you have a conscientious objection based on religious or moral beliefs which is relevant to your professional practice, you must tell your employer and, if appropriate, tell the patient as soon as you can. If you cannot meet the patient's needs because of this objection, you must talk with your employer and, if appropriate, talk to the patient about other care arrangements.” (pg.17)
• Standard of conduct 8. “Even if you have a conscientious objection, you must provide care to a patient in an emergency where there is a risk to the patient's life” (pg. 17).

The Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018 will be enacted shortly. NMBI has compared the forthcoming legislation with the NMBI Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics for Registered Nurses and Registered Midwives. NMBI is making no revision to the Code at this time. However, we have included an addendum for the purposes of clarity into the Code: It is not a breach of the Code to provide services under the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018. NMBI will commence a review of the Code in 2019 and would welcome your feedback at that time.

The Draft NMBI (2018) Competence Assessment for Overseas Nurses (Second Edition) document has been developed for nurses educated and trained outside Ireland who do not qualify for registration under the EU Directive. It is designed to provide guidance on a period of adaptation and assessment in an Irish health care facility and guidance on the development and provision of an aptitude test by an educational provider in advance of registration by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI).

The current document Competence Assessment for Overseas Nurses (Second Edition) was revised to reflect the updated NMBI (2016) Nurse Registration Programmes Standards and Requirements (Fourth Edition) and to incorporate the guidance on the provision of an aptitude test.

NMBI would appreciate your views. To provide feedback, please click here.

The closing date for consultation is Friday 25th January 2019 at 5pm.

If you have any questions please contact education@nmbi.ie

The next submission date deadline for Advanced Practice registration is April 8th 2019. Eligible applicants can expect the Review Panel to take place on the week of May 7th 2018. Further details will be communicated closer to the submission date deadline.

For information on the registration process see NMBI website https://www.nmbi.ie/Registration/Advanced-Practice

NMBI is seeking expressions of interest from members of the public to participate in the work of the Midwives Committee and the Education, Training and Standards Committee.

For more information regarding the roles and the application process for the Midwifery Committee and the Education, Training and Standards Committee please see out website.

The standards and requirements for Psychiatric Nurse Post-Registration have been revised and are now on our website. The document outlines the educational standards and requirements for psychiatric nurse post-registration education programmes set at  Level 8 Higher Diploma of the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ).

These are designed to provide guidance to education providers and health care institutions involved in the education of nurses in relation to the development,  delivery and evaluation of such programmes.

For further information please email: education@nmbi.ie

The Focus on FTP series will be an 8-part online series of articles from NMBI. These articles will focus on issues in relation to complaints made about registrants.

The primary aim of the series is to inform and guide registrants so that they have increased awareness of fitness to practise issues, and this can inform their practice and behaviour.

Each new publication will be made available on our website every two months and promoted through our monthly eZine.

NMBI would like to invite all registrants, members of the public, and stakeholders who have an interest, or have been involved in the FTP process, to read the articles.

The first article provides an overview of emerging trends and issues in relation to complaints and is available now: Trends and Issues in FTP.