Pictured (L to R): Rachel Kenna, Chief Nursing Officer, Department of Health; Carolyn Donohoe, Interim CEO, NMBI; Áine Lynch, NMBI Vice President and Director of Nursing and Integrated Care in Tallaght University Hospital and Dr Geraldine Shaw, Nursing and Midwifery Services Director, ONMSD/Interim Adviser to HSE CEO

We were delighted to be part of a Collaborative Storytelling Event to get ready for International Day of the Midwife and International Nurses Day, which are celebrated in May. 

The event, on 24 April, was jointly organised by the Office of Nursing and Midwifery Services Director (ONMSD), the office of the Chief Nursing Officer at the Department of Health and NMBI.

Áine Lynch, NMBI Vice President hosted the event which heard from Mattie Lambden, Intellectual Disability Nurse, Clinical Nurse Manager 2; Emer Shine, Clinical Midwife Specialist; Elena Prendergast, NMBI Student Nurse Ambassador; Colette O'Neill, Midwife; Seán Dowling, Clinical Midwife Manager I; Vandana Iqbal, Care of the Older Persons, Director of Nursing  and Jess Sears, General Nurse, Candidate Advanced Nurse Practitioner who shared their own unique stories.

Event speakers pictured, back row (L to R): Vandana Iqbal; Dr Geraldine Shaw; Carolyn Donohoe; Rachel Kenna, Mattie Lambden; Dr Geralyn Hynes and Áine Lynch

Front row (L to R): Jess Sears; Colette O'Neill; Elena Prendergast; Sean Dowling and Emer Shine

A patient’s perspective was shared by Dr Geralyn Hynes and Ashley Murphy. You can read about each of the speakers below.

Closing remarks were delivered by Rachel Kenna, Chief Nursing Officer, Department of Health; Carolyn Donohoe, Interim CEO, NMBI and Dr Geraldine Shaw, Nursing and Midwifery Services Director, ONMSD and Interim Adviser to HSE, CEO.

Pictured above: Members from NMBI, the Chief Nurse’s Office, Department of Health and the Office of the Nursing and Midwifery Services Director (ONMSD)

Áine Lynch, Vice President, NMBI and Director of Nursing and Integrated Care in Tallaght University Hospital Áine has over 40 years’ experience in healthcare across Ireland, the UK and the Middle East. She is a key member of the Executive Management Team in Tallaght University Hospital, as Director of Nursing and Integrated Care since 2017, having worked in a variety of clinical, quality and safety leadership roles since the hospital opened in 1998.

Rachel Kenna, Chief Nursing Officer and Assistant Secretary, Department of Health Rachel Kenna is the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) for Ireland and was appointed to the post in June 2020. Rachel was formerly a Deputy Chief Nursing Officer leading on nursing and midwifery policy for patient systems, safety, and governance. She is a Registered Children’s and General Nurse (RCN/RGN) and has extensive clinical and managerial experience, spanning 30 years in Ireland and the UK across a wide variety of clinical areas.

Carolyn Donohoe, Interim CEO, NMBI In 2021, Carolyn took up the position of Director of Education, Policy, and Standards at the NMBI, following years of nursing experience in the fields of critical care nursing education and management, as nursing practice development coordinator, and in perioperative services management.

Dr Geraldine Shaw, Nursing and Midwifery Services Director and Assistant National Director, (ONMSD), Office of the Chief Clinical Officer, HSE and Interim National Nursing and Midwifery Advisor to HSE, CEO Geraldine strategically leads and manages the ONMSD to ensure the provision of professional nursing and midwifery guidance and expertise at a corporate and service level to develop the capacity and capability of nursing and midwifery professions to maximise their contribution to safe patient centred care.

Mattie Lambden, Intellectual Disability Nurse, CNM2, Disability Services Laois Offaly and West Meath Mattie Lambden is Clinical Nurse Manager working with disability services for almost 20 years. He initially trained in the UK as a psychiatric nurse and on returning to Ireland in 2004, he commenced work in a challenging behaviour unit with the disability services.  He has worked in many management roles in the disability service, including in the Management of Actual Potential Aggression (MAPA). He is currently developing the supportive living model of care in the disability service.

Elena Prendergast, NMBI Student Nurse Ambassador Elena is a 22-year-old general nursing student intern at Tallaght University Hospital attending Trinity College Dublin. She is particularly interested in gerontological nursing and was recently nominated for the undergraduate Davis Oakley award for outstanding professionalism in the care of older patients. Elena is an NMBI Student Nurse Ambassador and is supporting NMBI to promote the profession of nursing.

Jess Sears, General Nurse, Candidate Advanced Nurse Practitioner, Inclusion Health/Epilepsy, St James’s Hospital Jess has held various roles across community harm reduction and hospital settings, working with people experiencing homelessness for the last 15 years. She provides assertive engagement and outreach to inclusion health patients in the management of chronic conditions including epilepsy/general neurology and HIV care. She has worked closely to develop the inclusion health service since 2014, both in the community and in hospitals. Jess and the inclusion health/epilepsy team in St James’s Hospital were recently awarded €30,000 funding from Trinity Med Day to purchase a fully electric vehicle for their street reach service, a mobile clinic bringing specialist epilepsy and HIV care to vulnerable populations.

Vandana Iqbal, Director of Nursing, Clonskeagh Community Nursing Unit, Health Service Executive Vandana Iqbal is a nurse leader with over 25 years’ experience, spanning healthcare settings in Ireland and India. In 2024, she was awarded the Florence Nightingale Global Scholarship from the prestigious Florence Nightingale Academy for nursing leadership. She is currently the Director of Nursing in a nurse-led facility under the Health Service Executive of Ireland. Since Covid-19, Vandana has been exploring how to support nurse leaders to make compassion central to their leadership. This journey has led her to become a certified teacher with the Centre for Compassionate Leadership. Vandana advocates for compassionate leadership at all levels of leadership and envisions compassion-empowered healthcare.

Dr Geralyn Hynes, Patient Perspective Following a period of working as a staff nurse and midwife, Geralyn worked overseas as a volunteer with Concern. She then completed an MSc and undertook research in Zambia. These were formative experiences in learning to question what seemed to be the obvious.  Geralyn returned to clinical practice nursing and developed a keen interest in chronic illness and the patient experience. She went on to work in academia as the first appointed lecturer practitioner in the country which took a different definition of the title and role. Geralyn completed a PhD in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and palliative care in acute hospitals and went on to work as an academic in the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland and later in Trinity College Dublin. She is now retired as a result of illness she has learned first-hand from her experiences as a patient.

Emer Shine, Midwife, Clinical Midwife Specialist, the Daisy Clinic, The Coombe Hospital Emer qualified as a registered nurse in 2002 and has worked in general nursing and addiction services. She started her Higher Diploma in Midwifery in 2010 and has worked in all areas of the Coombe hospital since qualifying as a midwife in 2012. Emer started working in community midwifery services in 2016 and has been leading the Daisy Clinic for almost a year, providing midwifery care to pregnant asylum-seeking women.

Sean Dowling, CMM1, Midwife Delivery Suite, Rotunda Hospital, Dublin Sean works as a CMM1 in the labour ward at the Rotunda Maternity Hospital. He is also a qualified nurse, having completed his training at North Middlesex Hospital in London. He then went on to study midwifery in Chase Farm Hospital, Enfield in London, where he qualified as a midwife. Sean worked as a Community Midwife in London before returning to Ireland to continue his career in Dublin. He has over 30 years’ experience as a midwife and has worked in maternity care, in the antenatal and postnatal wards as well as a preceptor in the first of the direct entry programmes into midwifery.

Ashley Murphy - Patient Perspective - Midwifery Ashley is a dedicated primary school teacher, drama instructor and vocal coach from Wexford. Recently, she welcomed her first child, baby Alfie, who made an early but joyful arrival at 34 weeks, just 10 weeks ago. Alongside her teaching, she is also a talented writer, creating original plays for school children. Her work features in both the Anne-Marie Cooney Stage School and her own drama school productions. A passionate performer, Ashley regularly graces the stage with various local musical societies. Her talent has earned her several nominations and wins for Best Actress at the Association of Irish Musical Societies annual awards. She continues to hone her vocal teaching skills as a dedicated student at the Vocal Academy College.

Our public consultation on the Draft Nurse Registration Programme Standards for undergraduate students is open and we are encouraging you to provide your feedback by 20 May 2025.

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

NMBI, as the regulator, publishes the standards and requirements to guide the design, development, delivery and evaluation of nursing and midwifery registration programmes.

NMBI is mandated to do so under the Nurses and Midwives Act 2011, as amended, which states that NMBI "shall set and publish in the prescribed manner the standards of nursing and midwifery education and training for first time registration and post-registration specialist nursing and midwifery qualifications".

NMBI Interim CEO Carolyn Donohoe said “This is a positive initiative with sound reasoning behind it. Building and strengthening the standards and requirements for undergraduate students will mean that they will be better equipped to support population-based care delivery in the community and in hospitals that is based on patient needs.”

NMBI firstly set the regulatory standards, and then the Higher Education Institutions write the curriculum all the while mapping the content of the curriculum to those standards.

Following the public consultation, NMBI will review, analyse and integrate the feedback received into the draft Standards and Requirements.

In late May, NMBI will circulate a draft report on the public consultation for feedback and will facilitate online meetings with key stakeholders in June, prior to submitting a final draft to the NMBI Board in July 2025.

The new standards and requirements and a new curriculum will be in place for student nurses entering third level from the autumn of 2027.

Information sessions

On 7 and 8 April, NMBI held a number of information sessions which provided an overview of the draft standards. A video of the information session is available to watch on our website.

Timelines

Background

In August 2022, NMBI with the Chief Nurse’s Office in the Department of Health co-sponsored an evidence-based review of the undergraduate education programmes leading to nursing and midwifery education. The RUN-ME research report was published in October 2023, which made several recommendations including an increase in community placements for nurses and midwives in line with Sláintecare and national healthcare policies.

From May 2023 to December 2024, the Department of Health Expert Review Body (ERB) and Implementation Action Group 1 coordinated a national engagement review, inviting involvement from key stakeholders. Several actions were outlined including the development of new education programme standards by NMBI.

In January 2025, NMBI met with the Heads of Schools of Nursing and Midwifery to discuss updating undergraduate standards and requirements, general principles and timelines.

In February and March 2025, NMBI held focused consultation workshops on the Draft Nurse Registration Programme Standards and Requirements for undergraduate students. Following feedback from these workshops NMBI commenced the public consultation in April until 20 May.

NMBI held its inaugural Midwifery Student Ambassador Forum in Dublin on 3 April.   

The Forum was opened by NMBI President Dr Louise Kavanagh McBride and NMBI Interim CEO Carolyn Donohoe.   

The event is a unique opportunity for undergraduate and post graduate midwifery students to meet with NMBI and understand the role of the regulator in supporting them throughout their careers. The Midwifery Student Ambassadors will partner with NMBI in promoting the profession, as well as participate in NMBI events throughout the year.  

Pictured above from NMBI: Carolyn Donohoe, Interim Chief Executive; Áine Lynch, Vice-President

and Dr Karn Cliffe, Director of Professional Standards – Midwifery

Opening the Forum, NMBI Interim CEO Carolyn Donohoe said: “We believe that this Midwifery Student Ambassador Forum will become a strong and active environment where the midwifery students will have an opportunity to collaborate with NMBI. By bringing together midwifery students, educators and the regulator, we are promoting an exchange of ideas with meaningful dialogue that can truly make a difference. The Forum provides an opportunity for NMBI to really listen to the views of midwifery students as they start out in their careers to better understand their needs and aspirations. I believe they will inspire the next generation of midwives interested in a career that makes a difference.”  

15 midwifery students from the six higher education institutions which offer midwifery courses at undergraduate and post-graduate level were represented at the event.    

Speakers included Dr Karn Cliffe, Director of Professional Standards - Midwifery; Jeanne Tarrant, Fitness to Practise Officer; Dr Ray Healy, Director of Registration and Kathyann Barrett, Head of Operations and Trish Nolan, Executive Officer, from the Education, Policy and Standards Department.   

Pictured above (Top row): Kathyann Barrett, Head of Operations and Dr Louise Kavanagh McBride, President

(Bottom row): Trish Nolan, Executive Officer; Dr Ray Healy, Director of Registration and Jeanne Tarrant, Fitness to Practise Officer

The midwifery students participated in a series of round table discussions on topics such as the priorities for midwifery students/ new graduates and their views on midwifery in Ireland. They also shared their thoughts on the recently launched Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics for Registered Nurses and Registered Midwives.  

NMBI Director of Professional Standards - Midwifery, Dr Karn Cliffe said “NMBI is pleased that the students will embrace the role of Midwifery Student Ambassadors.”  

Áine Lynch, NMBI Vice-President and Director of Nursing at Tallaght University Hospital brought proceedings to a close. “The Midwifery Student Ambassador Forum creates a strong relationship between the regulator and midwifery students. We are confident this will foster a sense of ownership and responsibility among students and encourage them to contribute to the advancement of the profession.”  

I am one of the very lucky few who always knew what they wanted to do in life. I’ve wanted to be a nurse since I was seven years old, after a very close relative of mine passed away. I witnessed firsthand the care that the nurses from the Jack and Jill Children's Foundation provided, not just to him, but to our entire family. 

Because I was so determined to become a nurse, nothing else even crossed my mind when applying through the CAO. I studied incredibly hard for my Leaving Cert because Children’s and General Nursing was all I had ever wanted.  

Fast forward to August 2016: I received my results and found out I didn’t get the points for nursing and that day was one I’ll never forget. But now, I’m so thankful I can look back and see how it all worked out. I’m especially grateful to my mother for encouraging me to do a pre-nursing PLC course which I began in September 2016 and loved every minute of it. I’m so thankful to the College of Commerce in Cork for everything that year taught me. I worked incredibly hard and thank God I did, because it led to me being accepted into Dublin City University to study Children’s and General Nursing. 

My journey as a Children’s and General Nursing student is one I will never forget. It was rocky at times but I’m so grateful to have finally reached my goal. I qualified as a nurse in March 2022 and was lucky enough to begin my dream job at Temple Street, where I stayed until the end of December 2022. 

However, home is where the heart is. By that point, I had been away from my family and friends for almost six years. I made the decision to move back home and started working as a General Nurse in the Mater Private Cork. I’m beyond appreciative of the amazing staff I met in both Temple Street and the Mater Private; those years truly shaped who I am today. 

And now, I’m a qualified Children’s and General Nurse in the final five months of a post-graduate course in Midwifery. Midwifery was always in the back of my mind during my nursing training. I had a wonderful placement experience in the Rotunda Hospital and it really solidified my desire to pursue midwifery. Starting the Higher Diploma in Midwifery at University College Cork (UCC) is a decision I’m so glad I made. While going back to being a student is definitely tough but it’s worth it. I’m incredibly lucky to be supported by such amazing lecturers, Clinical Placement Coordinators and preceptors at UCC and Cork University Maternity Hospital. 

I want to give a special mention to my parents - without them I wouldn’t be the person I am today and that person is a nurse and soon to be a midwife. 

Finally, to anyone doubting themselves or what they can achieve: if I can reach my goal, so can you. The CAO and the Leaving Cert are not the be-all and end-all, they are far from it. If I could go back and tell my 18-year-old self where I am now and what I’ve accomplished, she would have laughed. 

We are inviting expressions of interest from public interest representatives to participate in the work of the Preliminary Proceedings Committee (PPC) and the Fitness to Practise Committee (FTPC).

Public interest representatives must not be, and never have been, registered as a nurse or as a midwife in this, or in any other jurisdiction.

We are seeking to create a panel of shortlisted applicants from which to fill lay member vacancies on both committees between May 2025 and May 2026.

How to apply

1. Read the relevant information booklet carefully:

• Preliminary Proceedings Committee Booklet
• Fitness to Practise Committee Booklet

2. Submit a cover letter:

• Stating which committee you wish to apply for.
• Confirming that you are not, and never have been, registered as a nurse or midwife.
• Setting out your suitability for the role including how you meet the required criteria.

3. Attach a CV of not more than two pages including the names and contact details of two referees (not related to you).

4. Return by email to Orla Coady at ocoady@nmbi.ie before 12 noon on Wednesday, 14 May 2025.

We are holding a public consultation on the Draft Midwife Registration Programme Standards for undergraduate students from 7 May to 3 June 2025 and we encourage you to provide your feedback.  

As part of our role, we are mandated under the Nurses and Midwives Act 2011, as amended to publish the standards and requirements to guide the design, development, delivery and evaluation of nursing and midwifery registration programmes.

NMBI sets the regulatory standards and then the Higher Education Institutions, with their practice partners, write the programme curricula that map to these standards.

Our Director of Professional Standards – Midwifery, Dr Karn Cliffe said “Midwives play such an important role in delivering care to women, their babies and their families. The new standards will equip midwifery students with the knowledge and skills they need to work in partnership with women, further enhancing the midwifery profession for the years ahead.”

The draft document will be available for feedback from 6 May on the Consultations page of our website.

On 8 April, NMBI held the first regional consultation session in Athlone on our upcoming strategy for the period 2026 to 2028.  

The session provided us with an opportunity to hear from our registrants and key stakeholders in the region about their views on our next statement of strategy. Attendees were also given a first view of the new MyNMBI digital system. 

Further sessions will be held in Cork on Thursday, 15 May and Letterkenny, Donegal on 27 May. These will be followed by a public consultation in summer 2025. 

If you would like to attend our upcoming strategy sessions, you can register on Eventbrite through the links below. Further details about venue and time for the Cork and Letterkenny sessions will be available in the coming weeks. 

• Register for Cork session here 
• Register for Letterkenny, Donegal session here 

As a registrant of NMBI, your experiences in nursing and midwifery are valuable and we would really welcome your comments and views as we develop our next organisational strategy.

The Royal College of Surgeons Ireland (RCSI) and Maynooth University are asking for your feedback on the Generational Leadership Survey to identify the leadership needs of each generation of nurses and midwives.  

The aim of the research is to support each generation to understand their own and the leadership needs of others to create a more inclusive way of leading.  

The survey is being carried out by Dr Marian Crowley-Henry from Maynooth University, Dr Mary Collins and Dr Jolanta Burke from RCSI, in collaboration with the National Clinical Leadership Centre (NCLC, HSE).  

The research study is exploring intergenerational leadership approaches for midwives and nurses in the context of the HSE nationally with the overall objective of recommending a set of strategies to reduce attrition rates and improve the quality of the service.  

The findings will be used to inform leaders of the techniques preferred by staff to produce more affective leadership and increase retention. 

The survey takes an average of 10 minutes to complete and can be found here.