Pictured (L-R): Louise Kavanagh McBride, NMBI President; Sheila McClelland, NMBI CEO and Rachel Kenna, Chief Nursing Officer, Department of Health

We have launched our new Statement of Strategy which will run from 2023-2025.  

As part of the new strategy, over the next three years, NMBI will focus on protecting, promoting, and progressing the nursing and midwifery professions. These strategic priorities will be supported through partnership and technology.  

The strategy reflects the changing healthcare landscape and the need for nurses and midwives to be equipped with the knowledge, skills and resources to provide safe, high-quality care. It sets out a clear vision and objectives to advance the nursing and midwifery professions in Ireland and enhance patient care. 

Some of the key priorities within the strategy include:  

• Developing an online and in-person hub to support nurses and midwives from overseas to apply to join the Register in Ireland, and to adapt to working here. 
• Reviewing entry pathways into nursing and midwifery to establish alternative routes, such as graduate-entry nursing.  
• Working across health and education sectors to develop a plan to increase undergraduate student placement numbers. 
• Implementing a more person-centred fitness to practise process to ensure a compassionate approach. 

The strategy was developed following extensive consultation with nurses, midwives, educators and other key stakeholders. This included holding a public consultation which received 129 responses, as well as holding 15 meetings with external stakeholders and six internal workshops. 

Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly said: "Nurses and midwives play an integral and important role across Irish healthcare. I welcome the publication of NMBI’s Statement of Strategy 2023-2025, which acknowledges this key role and sets out an ambitious agenda focussing on how the NMBI, as a modern and progressive regulator, intends to play its leading role in supporting the development of the nursing and midwifery professions over the next three years.” 

The Chief Nursing Officer, at the Department of Health, Rachel Kenna said: “I welcome the publication of this statement of strategy, which will help shape the future of our professions in Ireland. As Chief Nursing Officer, I am committed to supporting the implementation of this strategy and to ensuring that nurses and midwives have the resources and support they need to provide the best possible care.” 

The President of NMBI, Louise Kavanagh McBride said: “As President of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) I am delighted to be publishing our new Statement of Strategy 2023-25. This strategy is the result of extensive consultation and collaboration with nurses, midwives, and stakeholders across the country, and it reflects their aspirations for the professions. Today’s publication is grounded in evidence-based practice and international best practice. On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank all stakeholders who took part in the consultation making this strategy possible.”  

NMBI CEO, Sheila McClelland said: “We are acutely aware of the challenges facing Ireland’s healthcare settings in recruitment and retention. The objectives outlined in this strategy set out a clear vision and roadmap for the future of these vital professions in Ireland. I believe that this strategy will not only enhance the professional development and well-being of nurses and midwives, but it will also have a positive impact on patient outcomes and experiences. I look forward to seeing the positive impact it will have on our professions and the wider healthcare system." 

Read the Statement of Strategy 2023-2025 here.

On Tuesday, 18 April, we attended the All-Ireland Maternity and Midwifery Festival in The Helix, DCU alongside midwives, midwifery students, academics and policy-makers.

Our CEO, Sheila McClelland gave the keynote address at the event on the evolving role of the midwife in Ireland. During her presentation, Sheila discussed policy changes at national and international level, highlighting the World Health Organization’s State of the World’s Midwifery 2021 report which detailed a global shortage of 900,000 midwives.

Sheila also highlighted the need for evidence-based workforce planning and shared the data we have on midwives from the Register of Nurses and Midwives. At the end of 2022, there were 9,816 midwives on our Register and of these 4,913 are practising. During 2022, 267 midwives joined the Register for the first time, with 210 having graduated in Ireland, 29 coming from the EU and a further 28 from outside the EU.

Our Director of Professional Standards – Midwifery, Dawn Johnston, also attended the event and met with midwives, midwifery students and other stakeholders.

Other speakers at the event included Mary Brosnan, Director of Midwifery and Nursing, National Maternity Hospital Dublin; Angela Dunne, Infant and Child Development Lead, HSE; Verena Wallace CBE, Senior Midwifery Advisor (Policy) Professional Practice Directorate, Nursing and Midwifery Council and the morning session was chaired by Lynda Moore, Executive Member for Midwifery, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO).

Learn more about the event here.

Last week, we were delighted to hold a clinical practice placement workshop at our office in Blackrock. 

Our Education Department met with more than 50 attendees including representatives from the Department of Health, the Office of the Nursing and Midwifery Services Director (ONMSD), staff organisations and nurses and midwives working in academic and clinical areas. 

The purpose of the workshop was to examine the current offerings for practice placements for students at an undergraduate level and discuss opportunities to expand the number of placements available. The group discussed European Directive criteria for qualifications, Irish standards and requirements, core practice placements and specialist practice placements for nursing and midwifery. As healthcare evolves, alternative options were also discussed to achieve the registration standards of practice for nursing and midwifery. 

Practice placements are integral to the undergraduate nursing and midwifery education programmes that lead to registration with NMBI. 50% of a programme’s curriculum is dedicated to learning in the practice environment. It gives students the opportunity to apply theory to practice, develop new skills and gain competence in nursing and midwifery.  

Working with stakeholders in the health and education sectors to develop a plan to increase undergraduate student placement numbers is one of the key priorities set out in our new Statement of Strategy 2023-2025. 

We have published site inspection summary reports for Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and Technological University of the Shannon (TUS).

The site inspection of TCD took place in October 2022 to review both nursing and midwifery education programmes, while the site inspection of TUS took place in December 2022 to review nursing education programmes. Both reports were approved by the Board of NMBI on 22 March.

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 associated healthcare practitioners (AHCPs) 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 both education bodies and the AHCPs for their collaboration.

The reports are available to view on our website.

We are holding a webinar on Decision-making in advanced practice for Advanced Nurse and Midwife Practitioners at 11am on Thursday, 25 May.

The webinar will focus on accountability and decision-making for nurses and midwives, as set out in the Scope of Practice. It will also cover the integral role of the Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics in day-to-day practice, with particular emphasis on the standards and requirements for advanced practice.

Speakers will include our Director of Education, Policy and Standards Carolyn Donohoe, and Professional Officers Lorraine Clarke Bishop and Mary Devane.

If you would like to attend the webinar, you can register here.

Please note, the webinar will be recorded to be made available online at a later date.

Last month, our CEO, Sheila McClelland, contributed to a panel discussion on telehealth at the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) Midyear Meeting.

NCSBN is an independent, not-for-profit organisation that supports nursing regulators in their mandate to protect the public.  It brings organisations together on matters of common interest and concern affecting public health, safety and welfare, including the development of nursing licensure examinations.

During the Education Day of the Midyear Meeting on 30 March, Sheila was part of a panel of international regulators who discussed the future of telehealth and its implications for regulatory bodies. The discussion followed a number of presentations on the latest research on telehealth. Among the speakers were William England, Senior Advisor in the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA); Brendan Martin, Research Director at NCSBN and Maryann Alexander, Chief Officer, Nursing Regulation at NCSBN.

You can learn more about the work of the NCSBN on their website.

Our Director of Registration, Dr Ray Healy, presented at the Cork University Hospital (CUH) Child and Family Nursing Conference on 24 April.   

Ray shared the data from our State of the Register 2022 report which recorded 4,982 people registered in the children’s nurses division as of 1 June 2022. Of those, 3,371 said that they were currently practising, with 2,920 saying they were practising in patient-facing roles.   

You can read the State of the Register 2022 report here.

The testing window for mature applicants applying for undergraduate nursing and midwifery programmes will open on Wednesday, 3 May at 1pm.

Applicants who have registered must successfully complete the assessments test online between 1pm on Wednesday, 3 May and 1pm on Wednesday, 10 May 2023. It is important to note thatthose who have not registered, will not be eligible to sit the tests.

The current assessment comprises of three separate tests:   

• Verbal reasoning (also called ‘understanding of basic instructions’)
• Numeracy 
• Job simulation

To help applicants prepare for the assessment tests, NMBI has published a familiarisation booklet. We strongly advise applicants to read this booklet in full before completing the assessment tests. Our partner, Aon’s Assessment Solutions has also developed videos to assist applicants in preparing for the tests. These videos will give applicants an opportunity to familiarise themselves with the format and type of questions to expect in the actual tests.

For queries relating to the online assessment tests, you can contact NMBI by email at careersinformation@nmbi.ie.

Further information and updates can be found on the Mature Applicants page of our website.

We would like to wish all applicants the best of luck in the tests.

To mark International Day of the Midwife, the National All-Ireland Midwifery Conference is taking place in the Aviva Stadium, Dublin on Friday, 5 May.

Organised by the Office of the Nursing and Midwifery Services Director and the National Women and Infants Health Programme, the conference will bring midwives from across Ireland together to honour their crucial care contribution to mothers and infants.

Our Director of Professional Standards – Midwifery, Dawn Johnston is part of the planning committee.

Speaking about the event, Dawn said: “International Day of the Midwife is a key date for the midwifery profession every year around the world. This year’s theme of ‘Together again: from evidence to reality’ is incredibly fitting as we join together in person for the second time since the Covid-19 pandemic. It also highlights the need to use the recent research and evidence from across the globe to implement change for both midwives and the women and babies receiving care, such as through implementation of the recommendations of the Expert Review Body on Nursing and Midwifery and our recently published Statement of Strategy 2023-2025.”

You can register to attend the event here.

Earlier this month, our President, CEO and Director of Education, Policy and Standards attended the 2023 Psychiatric Nurses Association Annual Delegate Conference.

The event took place in Tullow, Co Carlow and our President, Dr Louise Kavanagh McBride, CEO, Sheila McClelland and Director of Education, Policy and Standards, Carolyn Donohoe were in attendance.

Speakers at the conference included Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) General Secretary, Peter Hughes and Children’s Ombudsman, Dr Niall Muldoon.

The conference offered NMBI a chance to meet with psychiatric nurses and understand the challenges and developments they are facing in their practice and in services.

The Board of NMBI has made a new decision as to the finding and sanctions arising from a complaint. 

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