Registering to Work as a Nurse in Ireland - Trained outside the EU

Working as a nurse in Ireland is highly covetable; Irish Nurses are considered the best trained in the world so to work and learn beside them is an invaluable experience. The benefits of working in Nursing in Ireland are also extensive. Including but not limited to Fully paid holidays, Paid Maternity Leave, Paid educational support and MANY many more!

If you are interested in working as a nurse in Ireland but have training outside of the EU let us outline the process of registration:

Firstly you need to go through a two-part process, Recognition, and then registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland, known as the NMBI.

Part 1 - Recognition of Qualifications:

Step 1:
Set up a profile on MyNMBI - Select Overseas Registration. You will need to answer a series of questions which will categorise your application.

Step 2:
You will see a list of documents to upload.
These include
(1) a certified copy of your passport
(2) certified copy of your qualification parchment
(3) other relevant training,
(4) certificate(s) of current professional status (otherwise known as a certificate of good standing) for all jurisdictions where you are currently, or were previously registered, and
(5) official translations for any documents that are not in English.

Step 3:
You will then be asked to enter details of your professional experience since qualifying. You will see an employment form that you will need to download and send to your employers for completion.
You will then be asked to enter the details of your relevant qualifications. You will see a qualification form that you will need to download and send to your college for completion. The college will also need to provide you with the transcript for the qualification.

Step 4:
You then need to save your application and when the documents have been returned to you from the college and employers, you will log back in and upload them. You will need to obtain a certified copy of the transcript first before you upload.
You must check all your entries and documentation very carefully before proceeding. You can save and edit your application. Do not submit an incomplete application as this will lead to delays.
When you have checked that all your details and documents are correct, you will then complete a declaration and proceed to pay the fee.

Step 5:
When your application is submitted it will be queued for the first assessment.
NMBI will carry out source verification on certain documents and carry out an administrative assessment.
If your application is incomplete, you will be contacted by email to provide the missing information and your application will not proceed until you have provided it.

Step 6:
When your application is complete it will proceed to education assessment. The qualification assessor may require further information from you.
You will then be informed of the outcome of the education assessment.

Possible Outcomes:
Your qualifications are recognised, and you can move straight to applying for Registration. (This happens in less than 5% of non-EU overseas applications).
A compensation measure is required. (This happens in 95% of applications).
Your qualifications are not recognised (This happens in 1% of cases).

A compensation measure refers to a period of adaptation or an aptitude test that needs to be successfully completed before your qualifications can be recognised. (The aptitude test option is only available to those applying to the general nurse division).

Part 2 - Registration

Step 1: Log into your MyNMBI account.
Step 2: Select Overseas registration.
Step 3: Provide Evidence of English Language proficiency.
There are three ways to show evidence:
Completed Nursing or midwifery training in an NMBI recognised English speaking country.
Registered and practised in an NMBI recognised majority English speaking country for three years within the last five years.
Completed IELTS or OET English language test to the minimum scores accepted by the NMBI.

Step 4:
Complete a fit and proper declaration.
Pay the appropriate fee and submit your application.

Step 5: 
NMBI will then carry out an administrative assessment of your registration application. If your application is incomplete, you will be contacted by email to provide the missing information. If your application is complete it will proceed to a decision.

Currently Clarity are only able to work with Candidates who have full registration, which is why we would advise applying and completing the aptitude test with RCIS. Adaptation programmes and support is very hard to secure. Whereas if you are fully registered there are hundreds of open roles awaiting your application.

View all available nursing roles here