NMBI recognises that January has been an extremely difficult month for our registrants.

Nurses and midwives continue to work on the frontline in our healthcare services as we bid to flatten another curve in this pandemic.

Record numbers of people contracted the illness in January; and record numbers of people have needed treatment in our hospitals including in our ICUs and in nursing home settings.

NMBI registrants continue to show tremendous resolve in the face of this new wave of the global pandemic and the NMBI wants to acknowledge and thank all those who have worked so tirelessly to care for patients in every healthcare setting.

Our thoughts continue to remain too with those who have contracted Covid-19 on the frontline.

In particular, we at NMBI wish to send our deepest sympathies to the family, friends and colleagues of nurse Solson Payyappillil Saviour, a father-of-one, who lost his battle with Covid-19 this month. Solson was described by his former colleagues as someone who was always “full of life”.

Gowran Abbey Nursing Home in Co Kilkenny said that he “lost his personal battle” with Covid-19 at Wexford General Hospital where he worked.

Solson, originally from India, had worked at Gowran Abbey Nursing Home in Kilkenny for three years before taking up a position at Wexford GH.

NMBI, through its function of setting and monitoring standards for education programmes, has actively been engaged with the partners in education, the policy makers and health care partners to ensure that the integrity of the education programmes for our students is maintained during these challenging times.

NMBI also wishes to acknowledge the ongoing difficult and challenging work environment for our nurses and midwives. Mindful of these challenges, NMBI have extended the date for annual renewal of registration to Sunday 28 February 2021.

NMBI appreciates that nurses and midwives continue to demonstrate the values of compassion, care, and commitment in providing services during the Covid-19 pandemic.

At all times, the overall benefit to the patient must be served in these emergency situations. The Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics for Registered Nurses and Registered Midwives stipulates that “nurses and midwives have a distinctive responsibility to uphold the quality and safety of the healthcare environment”.

However, the current pandemic has challenged the lens through which some decisions have to be made. At any time when concerns are raised about the practice of a nurse or midwife, the context and circumstances that prevailed at the time will always be taken into consideration.

The Department of Health in the recent Procedural Values for Decision making in a Pandemic July gov.ie - Procedural Values for Decision-Making in a Pandemic has identified a framework for decision making that NMBI will include in their considerations.

This would be particularly so in the context of the challenges generated during the current Covid-19 pandemic.