(L to R): Rachel Kenna, Chief Nursing Officer, Department of Health; Carolyn Donohoe, NMBI Chief Executive Officer; Áine Lynch, NMBI President and Kathyann Barrett, NMBI Head of Operations

We are pleased to officially launch our Statement of Strategy 2026-2029.  

The Statement of Strategy 2026-2029 provides a roadmap designed to strengthen public safety while empowering the professions that NMBI regulates. 

The key objectives are: 

• Public protection through right-touch regulation 
• Nursing and midwifery support and empowerment 
• Organisational agility. 

The strategy will be implemented over a four-year period, from 2026 to 2029. NMBI will regularly assess progress throughout the strategy’s lifecycle, reporting on outcomes to the Board and in annual reports.  

Pictured: Attendees at the launch

Speaking at the launch, Rachel Kenna, Chief Nursing Officer, Department of Health said: “I welcome the NMBI Statement of Strategy for 2026–2029. The strategy sets out the approach for NMBI to achieve its ambitious programme of work that will continue to protect the public and support the continued development of nurses and midwives.  

“NMBI engaged with a wide range of stakeholders in developing this strategy. The outcome is a robust strategy with public protection at is core and aims to support the contribution of nurses and midwives in delivering safe and quality care.  

“The Strategy’s three core objectives: enhancing public protection through right-touch regulation, empowering nurses and midwives and fostering organisational agility continues to build on this partnership through increasing public and patient involvement and inter-regulatory collaboration.  

“I extend my sincere thanks to NMBI on their collaborative approach throughout the development of the Strategy, and I look forward to seeing its core objectives put into action over the next four years.”  

(L to R): Rachel Kenna, Chief Nursing Officer, Department of Health; Carolyn Donohoe, NMBI Chief Executive Officer; Áine Lynch, NMBI President; Dr Edward Mathews, INMO Deputy General Secretary and Dr Geraldine Shaw, Nursing and Midwifery Services Director ONMSD/Assistant National Director/Office of Chief Clinical Officer

NMBI President, Áine Lynch said: “Our new strategy charts a clear path for the years ahead, ensuring NMBI continues to protect the public while supporting the professions to deliver safe, high-quality care. 

“Shaped by extensive consultation, it reflects diverse insights on priorities such as upstream regulation, professional competence and digital transformation. The strategy sets out our three core aims: enhancing public protection through right touch regulation, empowering nurses and midwives and building organisational agility.” 

(L to R): Yvanne Kennedy, Interim Director of Fitness to Practise, NMBI; Lorraine Clarke, Director of Education Policy and Standards, NMBI; Rachel Kenna, Chief Nursing Officer, Department of Health; Carolyn Donohoe, NMBI Chief Executive Officer; Áine Lynch, NMBI President; Dr Ray Healy, Director of Registration, NMBI; Kathyann Barrett, Head of Operations, NMBI and Dr Karn Cliffe, Director of Professional Standards – Midwifery, NMBI

NMBI Chief Executive Officer, Carolyn Donohoe said: “NMBI as an agile regulator is ready to support more than 93,000 nurses and midwives in providing trusted, compassionate care. Over the next four years with this strategy, we are committed to creating a proactive regulatory environment that protects patients by enabling nurses and midwives to deliver high-quality, person-centred care. 

“Guided by legislation, our focus remains on maintaining a robust Register, setting strong education standards, offering clear guidance and handling complaints with fairness and efficiency. At the heart of this strategy is our dedication to collaboration, integrity and compassion — values that guide every action we take.” 

(L to R): Past NMBI Presidents, Dr Louise Kavanagh McBride; Paul Gallagher and NMBI President, Áine Lynch

Speakers on the morning included Chief Nursing Officer, Department of Health., Rachel Kenna; NMBI President, Áine Lynch; NMBI Chief Executive Officer, Carolyn Donohoe and NMBI Head of Operations, Kathyann Barrett.

The Statement of Strategy 2026-2029 is available here. 

Mark Williams, CloudSource Chief Executive Officer; Dr Ray Healy, NMBI Director of Registration; Carolyn Donohoe, NMBI Chief Executive Officer; Áine Lynch, NMBI President and Ed Pearce, CloudSource Chief Delivery Officer

On Tuesday, we were delighted to officially launch our new and enhanced digital registration platform, MyNMBI. 

The updated portal went live in August and introduced a more intuitive interface and enhanced tools for our key services. The portal has already supported registrants with their annual registration renewals and thousands of applications for recognition and registration.   

The launch event showcased the portal’s features and outlined the next steps in NMBI’s broader digital strategy, which aimed to further strengthen regulatory services and support Ireland’s nursing and midwifery workforce. 

Dr Ray Healy, Director of Registration said: “The updated MyNMBI portal represents a significant investment to create a more modernised, intuitive and data-driven registration platform that is user focused and will benefit registrants well into the future.” 

The response from registrants since August has been very positive, with many welcoming the simplified workflows and improved clarity around requirements. 

We are pleased to report a sustained reduction in requests for Certificates of Current Professional Status (CCPS) over the past two years. 

A CCPS is required when a nurse or midwife wishes to register and work in another country. The decline in these requests is a positive indicator that fewer registrants are seeking to move abroad. 

Between June 2023 and June 2025, the number of CCPS requests has shown a steady downward trend. While the monthly figures naturally rise and fall, the overall pattern points to greater stability within the nursing and midwifery workforce in Ireland. This suggests that more nurses and midwives are choosing to continue their professional careers here. 

This trend supports the ongoing efforts across the health system to improve retention, enhance professional opportunities, and strengthen our workforce for the benefit of patients and communities nationwide. 

NMBI will continue to monitor these patterns closely and provide updates as part of our commitment to transparency and workforce insight. 

We are inviting feedback to inform our Registered Nurse and Registered Midwife Referring for Radiological Procedures Standards.  

We would particularly like to hear from subject experts from clinical, education, operational and governance perspectives, including nurses, midwives, those working in the area of radiology, radiography and radiological referral and all other stakeholders, health service users and members of the public.  

NMBI is required to set and publish standards of nursing and midwifery education and training and monitor adherence to these standards. In response to evolving population health needs, legislative and regulatory changes, and the expanding role of registered nurses and registered midwives in referring for radiological procedure’s; a review of the second edition of Standards and Requirements (NMBI 2020) was undertaken.   

The draft document sets out key updates in recognition of legislative authority for both registered nurses and registered midwives to refer for medical ionising modalities. 

The draft document introduces practice standards for registered nurses and registered midwives referring for radiological procedures and broad, outcomes-based education programme standards. These changes ensure that registered nurses and registered midwives are adequately prepared to undertake this extended role safely and effectively. The standards relate to all radiological procedures across both ionising and non-ionising modalities. This includes radiological procedures/ionising modalities as referenced in SI 256/2018 and non-ionising modalities not referenced in SI 256/2018.  

We would really appreciate your views. Your first step is to read the draft consultation document on our website and then submit your feedback by completing the online survey.  

The consultation closes at 5pm on Monday, 6 April 2026. 

Visit our Consultations page to take part. 

We are holding a webinar on Monday, 30 March at 12pm to the launch of the revised National Competence Assessment Document.  

The session will highlight how the documents align with the new Registered Nurse Programmes Standards.  

The National Competency Assessment Document (NCAD) is used by undergraduate students, across all programmes and years, to record their achievement of competency in practice. They are a formalised method to capture initial, middle and final interviews between a student and their preceptor. With the introduction of the new Registered Nurse Programmes Standards in 2025, we have updated the NCAD to align with the new standards. 

We invite you to attend at: NCAD Webinar 

For those who cannot attend, the session will be recorded and available on our website after the event. 

The latest episode of our podcast, NMBI Voice is now available. In the March episode, our Board President, Áine Lynch shares her remarkable journey from a nurse inspired by her mother's career to becoming a key regulator in Irish healthcare. 

Áine also serves as a senior nurse leader at Tallaght University Hospital, where she has held various pivotal roles including Director of Nursing. Her expertise lies in orthopaedic nursing, nurse practice development and strategic health service planning. Áine is recognised for her ability to bridge the gap between frontline clinical practice and national regulatory policy. 

In this episode, Áine speaks about how maintaining the highest standards of clinical care while navigating the requirements of professional regulation can feel like a daunting challenge for healthcare practitioners in a rapidly evolving system. The episode explores the vital intersection of clinical excellence and regulatory oversight, offering a roadmap for career progression and professional development. She also discusses the importance of the new Code of Conduct, the upcoming professional competence scheme and how active listening transforms patient engagement into meaningful partnership. 

Listen now on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.  

Figures released by the Central Applications Office (CAO) show significant rise in application for nursing and midwifery programmes. 

For the 2026 entry cycle, nursing or midwifery courses received 34,249 mentions. This compares with 30,204 mentions in 2025 and 24,494 in 2024, reflecting a sustained upward trend over the past three years. A total of 88,817 applications were received by the CAO deadline of 1 February, a 6.5% increase on last year.  

The latest figures suggest that the professions continue to attract large numbers of applicants, with nursing and midwifery remaining popular among prospective students. 

The table below provides a breakdown by division and comparison to previous years. 

Two of our Student Ambassadors recently shared their stories on Shannonside/ Northern Sound FM and Cork 96 FM. 

Isabella De Souza, a third-year nursing student at Technological University of the Shannon spoke with Joe Finnegan on Shannonside/Northern Sound FM about how her decision to train as a nurse was inspired by the loss of her grandmother during the Covid-19 pandemic. Isabella, who is due to qualify in October 2027, said nursing is driven by compassion and “is about listening, advocating and building trust with patients”. 

Isabella spoke about the many positives within the health service and the dedication of its workforce. She also highlighted the vital contribution of internationally trained staff, saying patients respond to kindness and competence regardless of a caregiver’s background. 

In her interview, she encouraged others with a passion for care to consider nursing as a rewarding career. 

As a Student Ambassador, Isabella has visited colleges and engaged with prospective students to promote nursing careers. 

Separately, Aryth Stryker-Ruxton, a third-year midwifery student at University College Cork, spoke with PJ Coogan on Cork 96FM. 

She shared her journey from Canada to study midwifery after being accepted by UCC and with the support of her family. She said the decision to become a midwife came from a longstanding interest in maternal care sparked by family stories and the portrayal of midwifery in a television drama series. 

Aryth highlighted the broad role midwives play, from antenatal advice to birth preparation and postnatal support. She added that listening and emotional support are central to the job. 

Now as an NMBI ambassador, Aryth meets peers nationwide to discuss professional developments and promote the profession. She qualifies this September and said she plans to remain in Ireland to work and build her career, praising Cork’s landscape and lifestyle as part of her decision to stay. 

We are proud to support Isabella and Aryth, as well as all our Student Ambassadors. Their passion for the professions really shines through. We believe, their stories will inspire our next generation of nurses and midwives. 

NMBI was invited to a meeting of the Joint Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science on 18 March at Leinster House to discuss the topic of sector skills gaps and critical skills. 

Dr Ray Healy, Director of Registration and Lorraine Clarke, Director of Education, Policy and Standards, addressed the committee and outlined where the nursing and midwifery Register stands today, what trends NMBI is seeing, and the actions that we are taking, as a regulator, to ensure a resilient and sustainable workforce for the years ahead. 

We have published the site inspection summary report for Hibernia College. 

The site inspection of the college’s general nursing education programme took place in October 2025 and was approved by the Board of NMBI in January 2026. 

As part of our mandate to protect the public, we assess and approve all education programmes in nursing and midwifery across the country, conducting site inspections of university and college departments, and their partner hospitals and health services to ensure high standards of nursing and midwifery education and practice.  

All site inspection reports of education bodies and their practice partners are published on our website and are available to the public. 

The inspection reports provide an in-depth look at each undergraduate programme leading to registration and include a summary of the commendations, conditions and recommendations for best practice in professional education. 

We would like to thank Hibernia College and their practice partners for their collaboration. 

The reports are available to view on our website.