We would like to remind all registrants who have yet to renew their registration for 2024 that the deadline is Wednesday, 31 January. If you have not completed the process, please do so as soon as possible through our online portal, MyNMBI.  

We have developed several useful guides to assist registrants through the annual renewal process. Further details can be found on the Annual Renewal page of our website.

If you have any queries or require further support, our customer care centre can be contacted at 0818 200 116 (+353 818 200 116 from outside Ireland), Monday to Friday 9am-5:30pm or by email at regservices@nmbi.ie. 

When contacting us, please provide your name, PIN number and your date of birth as this will help us deal with any query more efficiently.

Your annual renewal fee goes towards our work to support nurses and midwives to provide patient care to the highest standards. This work includes: 

• Maintaining the Register of Nurses and Midwives and the Candidate Register for students. 
• Developing standards and guidance for nurses and midwives. 
• Assessing and approving education programmes for the professions. 
• Investigating complaints made against registrants. 

All nurses and midwives practising in Ireland are required to have their name on the Register of Nurses and Midwives which is maintained by NMBI and each year it is necessary to pay the annual renewal to maintain their registration.

Please note that student nurses and midwives are not required to renew. Any nurses or midwives who have registered for the first time, on or after 1 September 2023, are not required to renew until the 2025 annual renewal cycle. 

Please ensure that your details are up to date, including contact information (address, email address and phone number) and employment details. This is a legal requirement under Section 53 of the Nurses and Midwives Act 2011, as amended.

If you wish to voluntarily remove your name from the Register of Nurses and Midwives, (for example are taking a career break or retiring), you can do so on MyNMBI. This service is free of charge and the deadline for voluntary removal is Wednesday, 31 January 2024. Should you choose this option, you can restore your name to the Register at any time by selecting the ’Restoration’ option on the MyNMBI portal for the same fee as the Annual Renewal. 

Further details can be found on the Voluntary Removal section of our website.

Removal from the Register for non-payment of the annual registration renewal fee

If the annual renewal is not completed by the Wednesday, 31 January 2024, or if you have not voluntarily removed your registration, we are legally obliged to include your name on the list of registrants that will be considered by the Board for removal. Removals from the Register for failure to pay the annual renewal fee are considered by the Board under Section77(1) of the Nurses and Midwives Act 2011, as amended. The Board will consider removals at its next meeting. Please note that notifications of removals are sent to the Minister for Health, known employers and the Health Service Executive under Section 82 of the Act. 

We are pleased to confirm the appointment of Dr Karn Cliffe as Director of Professional Standards – Midwifery.

Karn has worked with NMBI, as Midwife Project Lead, on a part-time basis since July 2023. She was Director of Nursing and Midwifery for Research, Practice Standards and Quality with the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group since November 2022. From June to November 2022, Karn was Interim Chief Director of Nursing and Midwifery for the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group.

“I am delighted to announce that Dr Karn Cliffe has been appointed as Director of Professional Standards – Midwifery of NMBI,” said NMBI CEO, Sheila McClelland.

“Karn will draw on her wealth of experience across practice, research and leadership to lead debate and deliver on progressive strategies for the profession of midwifery.”

About Dr Karn Cliffe

Karn qualified as a nurse in the Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Dublin and later as a midwife from City University London.

She spent several years in Australia, working as a midwife. While there, she developed an interest in maternal morbidity and mortality. She undertook an MSc in Advance Nursing/Midwifery Practice in Clinical Education, through the James Cook University and wrote a Training Manual for Traditional Birth Attendants in South-East Asia.

On her return from Australia, Karn worked at the University Maternity Hospital Limerick briefly and at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda. While working in Drogheda, she undertook a Clinical Doctorate in Midwifery through Stirling University, Scotland.

During the pandemic Karn was redeployed to various roles supporting acute settings and Residential Care Facilities on Covid-19 prevention and monitoring initiatives. From January 2021 to December 2022, she led out on the Covid-19 vaccination programme for Dublin Midlands Hospital Group and the Citywest Vaccination Centre. Prior to this, she worked with the National Sepsis Programme and the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group as an Assistant Director of Nursing and Midwifery.

In December 2022, Karn was conferred with The Fellowship of the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and in January 2023, was awarded Adjunct Professor title at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin.

We would like you to have your say. We are reminding you, and members of the public, that our consultation on the Professional Competence Scheme Guideline for Registered Nurses and Registered Midwives is open and closes at 5pm on Friday, 16 February 2024.

The document has been prepared to enhance public safety and to provide guidance to nurses and midwives on what is expected of them to maintain their competence through continuing professional development (CPD). 

The aim of the guideline is to:

• detail what registered nurses and registered midwives are expected to do to maintain their professional competence.
• outline the responsibilities of the regulator and registrants in quality assuring the process.

To read the draft consultation document and to provide your feedback on the survey, please visit the Consultations page of our website.

Our President, Dr Louise Kavanagh McBride recently featured in January’s issue of Eolas Magazine.

In the issue, Louise spoke about our State of the Register 2023 report and provided readers with an overview of the data we gathered through the annual renewal process. The report provides valuable insights into the profile, trends and challenges of our nursing and midwifery workforce. 

Louise featured alongside other healthcare regulators and professionals including Joanne Kissane, Registrar and Chief Officer, PSI; Dr Suzanne Crowe, President of the Medical Council; John Farrelly, CEO of the Mental Health Commission; Kevin Kelly, General Manager – eHealth (Digital Workflow and Automation), HSE and Fran Thompson, Chief Information Officer at the HSE.

You can read the article on the Eolas Magazine website.

You can also read the State of the Register 2023 report on our website.

We have published the site inspection monitoring report for Trinity College Dublin (TCD).

The report provides an ongoing monitoring update of the site inspection conducted by NMBI in October 2022. The report is collated six months after the Board approve the site inspection and is based on information provided by TCD in collaboration with their practice partners.

As part of our role as a regulator, we assess and approve all undergraduate programmes leading to registration in nursing and midwifery. To ensure these education programmes are of a high standard, we conduct site inspections of university and college departments as well as their partner placement sites. These reports provide an in-depth look at each education programme and include a summary of the commendations, conditions and recommendations for best practice in professional education.

We would like to thank TCD and their practice partners for their collaboration with the process.

The report is now available to read on our website.

We would like to advise all mature applicants applying for nursing or midwifery undergraduate degree programmes of the key dates for 2024.

If you know a mature applicant who is considering a career in nursing or midwifery, please share this information with them.

If they are applying as a mature student, they must be 23 years of age or over by 1 January 2024. 

They must have a valid Central Applications Office (CAO) application number and must be successful in the three assessment tests which will be available to take later in the year.

The CAO has provided useful information specifically for mature applicants which can be found on the CAO website. The closing date for applicants to the CAO is 5pm on 1 February 2024 however, the CAO does have a late application facility which will be available from 12pm on 5 March 2024 until 5pm on 1 May 2024. 

Registration for the nursing and midwifery assessment tests is expected to open in April and the tests are due to take place in May 2024. Please note that this is subject to change and we advise all mature applicants to check the NMBI website for updates as the test dates will be published in the coming weeks.

For further information, please refer to our 2024 Entry Requirements for Mature Applicants guide.

We are inviting expressions of interest from public interest representatives to participate in the work of the Midwives Committee.

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.

The Midwives Committee is a statutory committee. Its role is to provide advice to the Board in relation to all matters pertaining to midwifery practice, which the Board shall consider when performing functions in relation to midwifery practice. Information on the committee, including membership and terms of reference, is available here.

How to apply

Carefully read the information booklet.

Submit a cover letter confirming that you have never been registered as a nurse or midwife and setting out your suitability for the role including how you meet the required criteria.

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

Return by email to Orla Coady at ocoady@nmbi.ie by 12 noon on Thursday, 29 February 2024.

As part of our commitment to promote nursing and midwifery as a career, Lorraine Clarke Bishop, Professional Officer in our Education, Policy and Standards Department recently wrote an article for the Galway Advertiser. 

In the article, Lorraine highlighted the fact that nursing and midwifery is a career that makes a difference and positively impacts the lives of the people they care for and their families. 

Our aim is to inspire the next generation of nurses and midwives and to encourage students to join the professions.

You can read the article in full below.

Choose a career that makes a difference

Being a nurse or a midwife is a hugely rewarding job, that provides a unique opportunity to make a real difference, according to Lorraine Clarke Bishop, Professional Officer Education, Policy and Standards with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI).

As a nurse or midwife, you can really make a positive impact on people’s lives, while also protecting the public using the knowledge and skills learnt during the four-year degree programme in an NMBI approved college.

As half of the programme is based on practice, you will have direct contact with people and families. This could be in the home, in the community, in a hospital setting or with independent and voluntary sector organisations.

Through this valued and exciting work, you will see first-hand the impact that your role has on those you will be caring for.

Ask yourself, do you enjoy working with and helping people? If the answer is yes, nursing or midwifery could be the career for you.

A healthy work-life balance is very important, and the shift patterns for nurses and midwives can be very flexible, allowing you to work short or long days, nights or weekends or a combination of all of these. This means you can continue with your sports or hobbies and have the time to spend with family and friends.

On qualifying, you are ready to start a nursing or midwifery job the next day and you will have employment opportunities in various settings. With such a wide range of specialties there are plenty of opportunities for career growth. Once qualified, nurses and midwives can diversify and progress their career path through continued study at graduate level. If you choose you could move into a career in management, clinical specialist practice, advanced practice, clinical research, or teaching at clinical or university level.

The student nurses and midwives of today are the next generation of leaders, innovators, managers, problem solvers, advocates and policy makers. Students looking to join a fast-growing, in-demand profession should consider a career in nursing or midwifery.

To find out more visit our website.

On 18 January, we were delighted to welcome logo collector, Seán McCourt-Kelly, to our office in Blackrock, Co Dublin. 

Seán who is from Armagh, has a keen interest in memorabilia and has spent years meeting with businesses and organisations across Ireland, and adding to his collection.

Seán and his mother Annie, met with our CEO, Sheila McClelland and members of our senior management team, where he showed them his impressive collection and spoke about how his interest began and the many people he has met through the years.

Sheila presented Seán with NMBI branded merchandise to add to his growing collection.

Speaking of his visit, Sheila said, “It was a pleasure to welcome Seán and Annie to NMBI and to hear his stories about the memorabilia he has collected over the years. He is very passionate about his hobby and we were delighted to contribute to his collection.”

The Board of NMBI has made decisions as to findings and sanctions arising from four complaints received.

The findings are published in full on NMBI's Findings and Decisions page.