Mastering the art of becoming an Irishman (or crazy) (6) - The Nursing Board

If you want to work as a nurse in Ireland you have to be registered in the Nursing Board. For some reason, this is an extremely lengthy process and has cost me a lot of energy. I would like to describe my experiences here, and offer assistance to other people suffering the way I did before.


The Irish Nursing is officially called Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) or An Board Altranais (ABA), which is just the Irish translation.


Immediately after we had decided to move to Ireland, I started the registration process. That was by the end of September last year.

The official registration process


Anyone who has completed the nurse training in Germany after 1979 has to be recognized in Ireland without further examination, however, various evidence has to be provided.
On the website www.nursingboard.ie you get the "Overseas Application Request Form" as a download. You have to print it, fill it in and return it to the Nursing Board. After I had done so, I received a 26paged application form within a couple of days by mail. Also, my credit card was charged with the first €350,-. This amount is due to even start with the registration at all. The form has to be filled in in capital letters and black ink. Many details are easy to complete, some of them are more difficult. Important: on each side of the form on the top there is a number. This number is the reference number under which you will be listed in the register.

On page 4, you have to fill in the "authority with which you hold or have held registration with". In Germany, there is no offical register. After much back and forth I got to know, that I had to enter the authority here, that gave me the right to work as a nurse.

As an EU citizen, I also had to complete the appendixes A, B, and C. The upper part has to be filled in by yourself, the lower part has to be completed by the competent persons or organisations and returned directly to the Nursing Board.

Appendix A is a summary of the nursing training. The school of nursing, which you once attended has to detail all lessons (theoretical and practical) in here, that were part of your training. They also have to be listed by disciplines. In my case, this was not that easy. I completed my training in September 2004 at the "Klinikum Hannover". The hospital no longer exists in this form, it is now "Klinikum Region Hannover" and has undergone some restructuring in the last 10 years. The very friendly secretary was extremely committed and looked through my old training documents in the archive.

Appendix B is a reference of the current or most recent employer. They have to certify your employment and the date you started to work for them. They also have to complete your duties and responsibilities. This is relatively easy to do.

Appendix C is a certificate of the "authority" (see above) that has to be sent back together with a "CCPS" to the Nursing Board. This is one of the points that was especially cumbersome and nerve-racking. I was of the opinion that I can't bring this certificate, because there is no Nursing Board in Germany. I have communicated this to the Nursing Board, however without any other comment they insisted on a "CCPS".

The CCPS (Certificate of Current Professional Status) is a certificate of the authority that has given you the right to work as a nurse. In my case, it is as follows: I have passed my exams in the "Regierungsbezirk Hannover". Now the responsibility has changed to the "Lower Saxony State Office for Social Affairs, Youth and Family". On their website you can apply for a CCPS. But first of all, you have to find out that you can do so. I don't know how it works in other German states. In my case, the CCPS included the information that I have completed the training in Lower Saxony, Germany and have permission to work as a nurse and that no information on prohibitions or criminal acts are known to the State of Lower Saxony. A CCPS currently costs €53,- in Lower Saxony, Germany. As mentioned above this has to be sent directly to the Nursing Board. This is very important.

In addition, you need a birth certificate, either in English, or a certified translation of the German one. The registry office Hannover offers birth certificates on international forms, these can be requested online and then sent by post. Cost for this: €15,-.

If you changed your surname by marriage (like I did), a marriage certificate or certificate of change of name is also needed. At first I sent this in German - my mistake. Because I couldn't get one in English, I had to get a certified translation of the German document. It took me about another €65,.

Furthermore it is required to send a certified copy of your passport (cost at the Kreisverwaltungsrefarat Munich €10,-) and 2 passport photos (cost between €5,- and €10,-).

By the end of November I had submitted all required document, including the second (now translated) marriage certificate. That's at least what I thought. On 4th December, I sent an email to the Nursing Board, informed them of my future address in Ireland, and asked for an update on my registration status. I have never received a reply and - for the moment - stopped thinking about it, because we were then in the stressful process of moving.

Normally the registration process should be completed at this stage – for me, it started right here to be (even more) complicated

On 22nd December I had the job interview with my current employer and mentioned that my registration was not through yet. At that time, they advised me to give the Nursing Board a call every day. In Ireland everybody complains about this institution.

Between Christmas and New Year's Day, it was of course difficult to reach someone. When I finally reached somebody I was told, they have not received my CCPS. The next day I got a letter with a copy of exactly this CCPS with a date stamp of 26th November and a note that they need a certified translation of this document. At this point, it becomes illogical for me: Why should I translate a German document, if it is to be sent by German authorities directly to the Nursing Board? Why does is take the Nursing Board one month to inform me about this even though I asked on 4th December by email, if there was anything missing? During the holidays, the translation was difficult to get, but by early January I finally received the translation. Cost: again about €65,-.

On 19th January when I called the Nursing Board once more, they told me that they had all necessary documents and my registration would be completed within the next 30 days.

After that, it became simply ridiculous. In the meantime my boss provided me with an email that I should forward to the Board, saying if I don't get my registration within the promised 30 days I might be in risk of loosing my job. I forwarded this email in the hope of a fast processing. The recipient (Mrs. Butler) has forwarded my mail to her team leader (Mrs. Doyle) - no result.

In mid-February I called again and spoke to Mrs Doyle. The conversation was quite unpleasant. When I asked her if she could also speak to one of my colleagues who was also waiting for her registration to come through, I was asked back for which reason she should speak to my colleague. I was even asked if she was my girlfriend! This very unprofessional and outrageous behaviour made me speechless. However, once again I was "promised" my registration would be completed within the next two weeks.

Beginning of March, I had a very unpleasant conversation again. At the other end of the line Mrs. Fitzpatrick informed me that my registration could take another 60 days. So I to had restrain myself and asked how this could be possible, and told her that I was still at risk to lose my CNM1 position. Then she told me, if I had a job offer, I should have told the Nursing Board, so that they could prefer my registration. After I objected that I had spoken about it with Mrs. Butler and Mrs Doyle before, I was redirected to Mrs. Doyle.

From then on, more documents were needed. I had to send an email in which I had to confirm that my employment in Germany was terminated.

Then I had to clarify that I would like to be listed under my married name.

Furthermore, they found discrepancies because the layout of the first marriage certificate did not match the layout of the translated certificate.

In addition they noticed that I accidentally submitted a copy of just that second document and not the original one. My mistake. But I still wonder why nobody ever mentioned that four months ago, when I first submitted that document.

And then they asked me to submit another certified copy of my passport. To my surprise this was even free of charge at the local Garda station in Dundrum.

On Monday, 30th March I finally received the letter with the declaration to sign that I want my registration processed to the final stage. A direct debit mandate for the initial annual fee of €145,- was in this envelope as well.

To avoid any further delays, I drove directly to the Nursing Board the next morning (31st March). I handed the declaration in in person and paid the fee in cash at the reception desk after I was told by the a bit offended lady that she didn't have any change.

It took one more week until I was finally registered on 7th April. The main reason for this delay was that the Finance Department had to confirm the receipt of the payment. The receipt, which I got at the reception desk, was not accepted. I became a bit angry and asked Mrs. Doyle on the phone why she could not simply ask the Finance Department to confirm my payment in their computer system. After all, and to her credits, she called me back the same day and told me I was now a Registered Nurse. She even confirmed it by email a few minutes later.

After 6 months and more than €700,- (postage for all the letters not included) I am a Registered Nurse in Ireland. This process cost me a huge chunk of my energy, sometimes even leaving me almost in despair. I am happy in my new job, finally I can fulfil my role. It was a long way until here, which was made considerably difficult by the Nursing Board.

To anyone who intends to register in Ireland as a nurse I can only advise: remain in constant contact with the Nursing Board! The biggest mistake is to believe that your registration will be processed without your further involvement. Believe me, it won’t!  When you submit documents, call immediately and ask for confirmation of receipt. Ask whether something else is required. Their phone number is 00353 - 1 - 6398500. Who moves directly to Dublin should take advantage of the opportunity and visit the Nursing Board. The Office is located in Blackrock, right on the southern outskirts of the city of Dublin (address: 18/20 Carysfort Avenue, Blackrock, Co. Dublin). Let them not get rid of you. Leave messages on the answering machines. And most important: don't give up and stay strong!