We are pleased to announce that 12 new members have joined the Board of NMBI.

The Board comprises of 23 members. There is a lay majority of one, with 12 members who are not, or have never been, registered nurses or midwives. Of the remaining 11 members, eight are registered nurses and midwives elected by the professions. A further three nurses and midwives are appointed by the Minister for Health.

In order to ensure continuity, Board members’ terms of office end at different times. Of the 23 Board members, the terms of office of 13 members ended on 5 December 2022.

One of those members was reappointed by the Minister for Health:

The following seven members were appointed by the Minister for Health:

In addition, an election was held in September 2022 in five categories with the successful candidates being appointed to the Board by the Minister in January 2023:

The Board met for the first time in 2023 on 24 January. We would like to welcome each Board member and wish them well in their roles.

Meet the 13 newly appointed members of the NMBI Board

Professor Gautam Gulati

Professor Gautam Gulati is a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist at University of Limerick.

He trained at Oxford University and holds an Adjunct Professor at the University of Limerick. He has completed a Master’s degree in Forensic Psychiatry, and a PhD in Law and Medicine.

He has extensive clinical experience in Ireland and in the UK. His research interests lie at the interface of medicine and law. He has published extensively in international peer reviewed journals and has authored two books of Psychiatry.

John Horan

John Horan joined the Board of NMBI in 2019 and has a wide range of experiences at senior management and Board level. He has served on a number of NMBI committees including as Chairperson of the Audit and Risk Committee, as Chairperson of the National Treatment Purchase Fund and on other professional regulatory bodies.     

He has more than 20 years working in a variety of roles in the Aer Lingus Group, and was Chief Executive of the Irish Hotels Federation and of Veterinary Ireland. He is currently an Honorary Life Member of the national organisation for the veterinary profession. He has also represented these sectors at Council and Board levels in a range of national and European organisations. 

He holds a Masters of Science (MSc) in Management Practice from Trinity College Dublin.

Kate O’Halloran

Kate O’Halloran is a registered nurse and registered midwife with 18 years of clinical experience across a broad platform of settings. She holds additional qualifications as a registered nurse and midwife prescriber and as a Forensic Clinical Examiner (FCE).

Kate is currently a Clinical Midwife Specialist (CNS) in the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit (SATU).

Prior to her current role, Kate has worked as a Clinical Midwife Manager 1 (CMM1), Covid Drivethrough Coordinator and the clinical lead during acute cases as a Forensic Clinical Examiner. She has also worked in all areas of midwifery care, antenatal, postnatal and intrapartum before returning to education to specialise in forensic clinical examination and sexual assault care.

Dr Lydia Buckley

Dr Lydia Buckley is the Data Protection Officer (DPO) and Freedom of Information (FOI) Officer for the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA).

As the Authority’s DPO, Lydia provides advice on data protection issues and monitors its compliance with GDPR.

Prior to joining HIQA, Lydia was Assistant Commissioner in the Data Protection Commission (DPC) where she was Head of the DPC’s Complaint Assessment Team. She later became the Lead Investigator for Multinational Technology Inquiries and was previously an Investigator in the Office of the Information Commissioner, the appeal body for FOI.

Lydia has a background in legal research and holds a PhD in Law from UCC. In addition, she worked as a Judicial Researcher in the Four Courts.

Dr Margaret Murphy

Dr Margaret Murphy is a registered midwife and a registered general nurse and holds a Doctor of Nursing, as well as a Master’s, Bachelor’s and postgraduate diploma in teaching and learning in higher education. She is currently the Programme Lead for the Bachelor's degree in Midwifery and a Lecturer in Midwifery at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, University College Cork.

Dr Murphy lectures across all years of the Bachelor degree and Higher Diploma in midwifery programmes, as well as delivering the Maternal and Child Health module on the Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health Nursing programme.

Prior to her current role, she has over 20 years’ working at the HSE.

She was elected as Treasurer and Executive Board Member, International Stillbirth Alliance in 2017. She is also a member of the International Stillbirth Alliances' (ISA’s) Bereavement Working Group, Stillbirth Advocacy Working Group, Stillbirth Prevention Working Group.

She has over 30 peer-review publications and has co-authored the book Different Baby, Different Story: Pregnancy and Parenting After Loss for couples in pregnancy, and parenting after loss with international colleagues.

Mark Johnston

Mark Johnston is a registered mental health nurse and nurse prescriber. He works as a Nurse Practice Development Co-ordinator for mental health services in Community Healthcare Organisation 3 (CHO3) which covers Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary. In recent years he has worked in developmental roles including as a Clinical Placement Co-ordinator and as a Lecturer in mental health nursing.  

He has extensive across various specialities including acute, community and rehabilitation. As part of his work, he leads and supports the continued development of mental health services to meet HSE policy objectives, such as the national drive for clinical supervision of nurses working in mental health services.

Mark also leads the Practice Development of Nursing Unit which assists in the evaluation, development, and implementation and monitoring of nursing practice in the mental health service across CHO3 to ensure the quality of the learning environment for undergraduate and postgraduate students.

He is Branch Secretary for the Psychiatric Nurse Association (PNA) in Clare Mental Health Services and is the Mid-West Regional Representative for the PNA. He regularly participates in the Strategic Nurse Advisory Group and in partnership groups with the University of Limerick, such as the Local Joint Working Group and Practice Learning Environment Group.

He holds a Master’s degree in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, a Post-graduate Diploma in Nursing and Midwifery, a Higher Diploma in Nurse Prescribing and a Diploma in Leadership and Management.

Mary Leahy

Mary Leahy is a Public Health Nurse with 26 years’ experience, most recently focused on the health needs of migrants and refugees.

She is a registered public health nurse, a registered general nurse and a registered midwife.

Prior to her current role, Mary was National Coordinator for Nurse and Midwife Health and Safety Representatives. She was also an investigator in HSE human resources, implementing Trust in Care, Dignity at Work and disciplinary procedure policies. Additionally, she carried out research and development for Public Health Nurses for Multiculturism, and was employed as a midwife, practice nurse and staff nurse in both Ireland and the UK.

She holds a number of qualifications including a Master's degree in Healthcare Leadership, a Higher Diploma in Public Health Nursing, a Diploma in Mediation Studies and Certificates in Professional Practice (Family Planning) and Professional Practice (Audit).

Mary Rose Loughnane

Mary Rose Loughnane is a registered intellectual disability nurse and works as an enhanced nurse practitioner in Brothers of Charity Services, Galway.

In her role, she delivers evidence-based practice for residents with intellectual disabilities.

Prior to this, she has worked across a range of settings in the Galway region, including day centres, respite services, dementia care and geriatric care in community residential care.

She holds a Bachelor's degree in Intellectual Disability Nursing from Atlantic Technological University, Letterkenny and recently completed a Master's degree in Advanced Leadership from the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland (RCSI). As part of her Master's, she completed a thesis on developing staff bereavement training to support grieving adults with intellectual disabilities and she aims to implement the findings through training in her local service area.

She is also a qualified Studio III trainer, providing guidance and techniques in managing behaviours of concern, stress management and crisis intervention in supporting people with intellectual disabilities as well as staff members.

Mittu Fabin Alungal

Mittu Fabin Alungal is a registered general nurse and is the Director of Nursing at Meath Community Unit.

Prior to her current role, she worked as a clinical trial nurse at the Institute of Cancer Research in Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Institute of Cancer Research, as well as previous experience as an Assistant Director of Nursing and staff nurse in a nursing home.

She is a committee member of Migrant Nurses Ireland (MNI) and a member of its Professional Forum which provides career guidance to migrant nurses.

She holds a Master's degree in Gerontological Nursing from the Royal College of Surgeons, a Postgraduate Certificate in Health Care Management from Dorset College, and a Bachelor's degree in Nursing from the Mahatma Gandhi University in India. She has also completed a course in change management from Oxford University.

Muireann Ni Shuilleabhain

Muireann has 30 years’ experience in the pharmacy profession (hospital and community), both in Ireland and the USA. She has been in a Chief / Superintendent Pharmacist role since 2001.  She is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin.

She has a Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma, a law degree and a diploma in corporate governance. She also has experience in accreditation processes, clinical governance, healthcare management, project leadership and regulation.

She has served as a Council member of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI) since 2015 and during her term, she has been a member of the advisory committee of Regulatory and Professional Policy, and the statutory committee of Professional Conduct. She also serves as President of the Council of the PSI.

Niamh Murphy

Niamh Murphy is the Physiotherapy Manager in charge in St James’s Hospital, Dublin, the largest academic teaching hospital in Ireland. She has worked as a physiotherapist for over 25 years in Ireland, the USA and Australia. She was a member and Chair of the CORU Physiotherapy Registration Board between 2018 and 2021.

Niamh qualified from University College Dublin with a Bachelor in Physiotherapy and holds a Master’s degree in Exercise Physiology from Trinity College Dublin. She has also completed further study in healthcare management, leadership, quality improvement and coaching.

Niamh has a keen interest in operational excellence, research, quality improvement and leadership.

Raymond Dolan

Raymond Dolan is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountants and recently retired CEO of Safefood, an All-Ireland body set up under the Good Friday Agreement.

Ray has over 40 years’ experience in the public sector both nationally and in Europe, working in the Comptroller and Auditor General’s Office, the European Space Agency, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and Safefood. He is currently a member of various audit and risk committees and was recently elected as Vice President of the Institute of Public Administration.

He holds a Master of Arts (MA) in Public Administration and is an experienced executive coach with a Diploma in Executive Leadership Coaching. Additionally, he has completed the Leadership Challenge Programme in association with the Institute of Public Administration and Harvard University in the USA. He also holds certificates in the Hogan Assessment Recruitment Method and in governance and cyber security.

Terry McGonigal

Terry McGonigal is a qualified Accountant (FCCA) and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personal and Development (FCIPD). He has over 30 years’ experience working in the public sector and is an experienced Director of Finance and Corporate Services. He has a strong track record of providing leadership and direction for major change initiatives to improve organisational effectiveness and to deliver sustainable public services.

He also has significant experience in supporting the work of public sector boards and audit committees, both in an executive and non-executive capacity. Additionally, he has in-depth experience in developing and strengthening corporate governance arrangements to ensure compliance with best practice.

Terry studied at the University of Ulster and Queens University. He holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) and a Master's degree in Public Sector Innovation Management.

If you would like to find out more about the Board of NMBI, please click here.

As we start 2023, we are all greatly aware that there are ongoing challenges in our hospitals and particularly in our emergency departments. I would like to thank our nurses and midwives for their continued dedication to patient care. 

As the State’s regulator of the nursing and midwifery professions, we will continue to monitor the situation and engage with our stakeholders to support our registrants.  

We understand that nursing and midwifery retention is an ongoing issue across the Irish health service. While we cannot directly impact working conditions for the professions, one of our objectives for this year is to conduct research to better understand the factors which attract people to nursing and midwifery careers, and why they are leaving.  

This will take the form of an annual survey of those who voluntarily leave the Register and we will share this data with our stakeholders to inform retention strategies.   

Furthermore, we are continuing to make improvements to our registration process to bring new nurses and midwives into the country. In 2022, we issued 8,881 Decision Letters to overseas applicants applying to join the Register. Throughout 2022, we welcomed 5,008 nurses and midwives onto the Register.  

I would also like congratulate the new President of the Board, Louise Kavanagh McBride, who was elected at a Board meeting on 25 January and wish her well in the role. Louise has served on our Board since 2015, most recently as Vice President. I would also like to welcome the new members who will serve on the Board for the coming years. Under the Board, I look forward to implementing our new strategic objectives. 

As always, we remain committed to fulfilling our mission of protecting the public and the integrity of the professions of nursing and midwifery through the promotion of high standards of education, training, and professional conduct.  

We look forward to engaging with our registrants, stakeholders and partners to deliver this throughout 2023.  

Best wishes,

Sheila McClelland

NMBI CEO

We are delighted to announce that Dr Louise Kavanagh McBride has been elected as the new President of NMBI following a Board meeting on 25 January 2023.

Dr Kavanagh McBride has served on the Board since 2015, when she was appointed by the Minister for Health as the Technological Higher Education Association (THEA) Institutes of Technology representative. She has been Vice President of the Board since 2017.

During her time on the Board, Dr Kavanagh McBride served as chair of the Education, Training and Standards Committee, and has also served as a member of the Business, Strategy and Finance Committee and the Fitness to Practise Committee.

Originally from Duleek in Co Meath and living in Co Donegal, Dr Kavanagh McBride is a registered general nurse and nurse tutor, specialising in Orthopaedics and Emergency Nursing. She is currently Head of the Department of Nursing and Healthcare at Atlantic Technological University, Donegal where she leads, manages and coordinates undergraduate and post-graduate nursing and healthcare-related studies in the North West. She is also involved in funded research projects in the areas of mental health and wellbeing of third level students in partnership with University of Ulster.

In her new role, Dr Kavanagh McBride will oversee the implementation of NMBI’s new Statement of Strategy 2023-2025.

Speaking on her appointment, Dr Louise Kavanagh McBride said: “I am privileged and honoured to become President of NMBI. As I step into this role, from Vice President, I recognise both the opportunities and challenges that exist within the nursing and midwifery professions and look forward to working with the Board, NMBI's executive and key stakeholders as we promote and protect the integrity of the professions.

“l am delighted to have been elected by my Board colleagues to take up the position of President. I want to thank my former colleague and outgoing President, Essene Cassidy, for her leadership over the past seven years. I look forward to using my knowledge of the Board and my professional, academic experience and practice to further NMBI’s mission to protect the public and uphold the highest standards of nursing and midwifery education and practice.”

NMBI CEO, Sheila McClelland congratulated Dr Kavanagh McBride on her new election: “I want to offer my sincere congratulations to Louise on her election as Board President. I have worked closely with Louise over the past number of years and I know that she is strongly committed to furthering our work to support registered midwives and nurses to provide patient care to the highest standard. I look forward to continuing to work alongside our Board to achieve our new strategic objectives.”

The 2023 annual registration renewal window will close on Tuesday, 14 February 2023.  

We would like to thank the more than 68,000 nurses and midwives who have already completed the process and remind those who have yet to complete the process, to do so as soon as possible.  

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. The annual renewal process must be completed through our online portal, MyNMBI. 

Please note that student nurses and midwives are not required to renew. 

Renewing your registration is easy and should only take a few minutes to complete. You can pay online using your own debit/credit card or if you are using a card issued to another person, please ensure that you have authorisation to do so. Under new EU requirements, the card provider/bank will request authentication to complete the payment. Please note that we no longer accept renewal payments by phone. 

There is an annual fee of €100 for renewing your registration. This 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. 

Guides

We have created a video and guidance documents to assist you through the annual renewal process. The guides can be accessed through the links below and are available on our website. 

• Annual Renewal video guide 
• Step-by-step booklet 
• Frequently Asked Questions 

Accessing your retention certificate 

Once the payment is complete, you can download your annual retention certificate from the ‘My Documents’ section of MyNMBI. Please note that it may take 60 minutes to generate your retention certificate. You can login again at any stage to download your new retention certificate. 

Support

Our helpline number is open for anyone who is experiencing difficulties in logging in or renewing online. Our customer care team can be contacted on 0818 200 116 or +353 818 200 116 from outside Ireland (Monday-Friday 9am - 5:30pm). You can also email our Registration Department at regservices@nmbi.ie. 

When contacting us, please provide your name, Personal Identification Number (PIN) and date of birth to ensure we can deal with your query as efficiently as possible. 

Removal from the Register

If the annual renewal is not completed by the Tuesday, 14 February 2023, we are legally obliged to include your name on the list of registrants that will be considered by the Board for removal. 

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 the MyNMBI. This service is free of charge and the deadline for voluntary removal is Tuesday, 14 February 2023. 

Should you choose to return at a later stage, you can restore your registration on MyNMBI by selecting the ‘Restoration’ option. When restoring, you will be required to pay the renewal fee only and the restoration fee will not apply. 

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

We would like to remind mature applicants of the key dates when applying for undergraduate honours degree programmes in nursing and midwifery for 2023. 

To apply through the mature student route, applicants must be 23 years of age or over by 1 January 2023. They must apply for their course through the Central Applications Office (CAO) and must be successful in assessment tests.

Applicants must have a valid CAO application number to apply for the assessment tests and we advise that you apply to the CAO before 5pm on 1 February 2023. The CAO late application facility will be available from 12pm on 6 March 2023 until 5pm on 1 May 2023. Further information can be found on the CAO website. 

The CAO will issue an email about the assessment to all mature applicants after 1 February 2023. 

Registration for the nursing or midwifery assessment tests is planned to open in April and the test is due to take place in May 2023. 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 2023 Entry Requirements for Mature Applicants guide. 

We are seeking expressions of interest from registered nurses and midwives to join our Expert Witness Panel for Fitness to Practise inquiries.  

Expert witnesses will work on behalf of NMBI’s CEO to give their professional opinion to the Fitness to Practise Committee reviewing complaints made against registrants.  

We are seeking individuals who: 

• are currently registered in one or more of the 12 divisions of the Register of Nurses and Midwives maintained by NMBI 
• have a minimum of five years’ post-registration experience in nursing or midwifery (including public, private and voluntary sectors; specialist areas of practice within general, children and paediatric, psychiatry or mental health, intellectual disability, older persons and midwifery) 
• are currently employed in a senior nursing or midwifery post (Clinical Nurse or Midwife Manager 2 or above) within a practice setting (including Practice Development Co-ordinators, Clinical Facilitators, Assistant Directors of Nursing or Midwifery, Directors of Nursing or Midwifery). 

Expert witnesses are required across all areas of practice; however, there is currently a shortage of experts in the areas of midwifery and care of the older person in a nursing home or community hospital context.   

At the committee, expert witnesses are asked to provide their opinion on whether the alleged conduct of a nurse or midwife amounts to professional misconduct, poor professional performance and or non-compliance with a code of professional conduct. As such, it is necessary for the expert witness to have the requisite degree of expertise in the discipline and/or specialist area of nursing or midwifery practice to which the complaint relates.  

The work of the expert witness typically involves a review of documentation relating to allegations against a nurse or midwife, preparing a report setting out their opinion and possible attendance at an inquiry hearing. Additional information can be found in our Guidance for Nurses and Midwives Acting as an Expert Witness document.  
 
Interested individuals must submit a completed Expression of Interest Form–Expert Witnesses and a copy of their CV to eoi@nmbi.ie. 

If you would like any further information on the panel and what is involved, you can contact ftp@nmbi.ie.   

Suitable individuals will then be included on NMBI’s Expert Witness Panel. Please note there is no guarantee of work arising for being placed on the panel. 

We are inviting recent graduates to take part in a research project to future proof undergraduate education programmes.  

The Review of Undergraduate Nursing and Midwifery Education Programmes Leading to Registration in Ireland (RUN ME) aims to evolve undergraduate education programmes to meet emerging healthcare delivery models in the context of Sláintecare. 

The goal of this project is to ensure that nursing and midwifery education is responsive to the changing needs, developments, priorities and expectations of healthcare.  

We are conducting this research in collaboration with University College Dublin (UCD) School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems; The University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA); St John of God Community Services (SJOG); Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest (TUS) and Atlantic Technological University (ATU). The project will include a curriculum review of undergraduate nursing and midwifery programmes leading to registration in Ireland. 

We encourage all newly graduated nurses and midwives to share their experiences with the education programmes in our survey.

You can find out more and have your say by scanning the QR code below or by clicking here.

The Research Team for the RUN ME Project are: 

• Principal investigator, Associate Professor Mary Ryder (UCD) 
• Associate Professor Michael Connolly (UCD and Our Lady's Hospice and Care Services) 
• Professor Maria Brenner (UCD) 
• Assistant Professor Dr Freda Browne (UCD) 
• Associate Professor Sadie Geraghty (UNDA) 
• Assistant Professor Mary Curtin (UCD) 
• Associate Professor Eileen Furlong (UCD) 
• Ms Margaret Prendergast (ATU) 
• Mr John Larkin (TUS) 
• Ms Margaret Meegan (SJOG) 

Chairs of Expert Advisory Group, Professor Fiona Timmons (Head of School, UCD) and Mr Paul Gallagher (Chair of Group Directors of Nursing and Midwifery Group) 

An expert advisory panel of students, patient representatives, national and international nursing and midwifery experts and key stakeholders will oversee the Review Research Project. 

Our Director of Registration, Dr Ray Healy, attended Nursing Homes Ireland’s Overseas Recruitment Process Education and Engagement Day on 26 January.

He presented on the role of NMBI and how we are registering nurses to work in Ireland’s nursing home sector.

Speakers at the event included, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, the Employment Permits Division of Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Atypical Work Scheme Division and the Employment Visas Division of the Department of Justice.

The event brought together key stakeholders and focused on the important work being done to overcome current and future workforce challenges.

The Board of NMBI has made a new decision on findings and sanctions arising from a complaint received. 

The finding is published in full on our Findings and Decisions page. 

Earlier this month, we attended the Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation’s (CLEAR’s) Winter Symposium for professional regulators. 

The event took place in Savannah, Georgia and focused on ‘Beyond the New Normal – Supporting the Work of Regulatory Excellence’ for professional regulators. 

Our outgoing President, Essene Cassidy, was one of a number of speakers discussing the global crisis in wellbeing and the role of the regulator. 

She shared our experiences of supporting registered nurses and midwives in Ireland through significant changes, such as the Covid-19 pandemic and health policy reform, as set out under the Sláintecare Programme. 

The Department of Health is surveying health and social care workers, including nurses and midwives, to identify future workforce needs. 

This Government initiative, which is being supported by the European Commission, will play a key role in identifying future workforce needs to support Ireland’s growing population, as well as predicting where shortages of health and social care professionals may occur in the future. 

The survey will inform a new system to forecast the supply and demand for nurses, midwives, doctors, and other health and social care professionals in Ireland.    

To help with the research, the Department of Health in partnership with Indecon would like to gather information on working patterns among nurses and midwives. Please note, this survey is independent of the NMBI.  

If you would like to take part, you can complete the survey here.