Complaints

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Employers and the complaints process

employers guide to making a complaint cover 

As an employer you may have specific concerns about a registered nurse or a registered midwife. Some concerns may be more appropriately         addressed at a local level.

However, other concerns about nurses and midwives may result in consideration being given to making a complaint to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI).

NMBI will consider complaints about nurses or midwives where there are public safety or professional standards issues arising from:

  • Professional misconduct
  • Poor professional performance
  • Non-compliance with the code of professional conduct
  • A relevant medical disability, including alcohol or drug misuse
  • Failure to comply with a condition attached to retention of a nurse or midwife’s name in the register
  • An irregularity in relation to controlled drugs or drugs likely to be abused.

What to watch out for

As an employer you should be alert to:

  • Signs or reports of abuse of patients or colleagues
  • Failures or deficits in the delivery of care to patients
  • Failures or deficits in the documentation of nursing or midwifery care
  • Dishonesty, including possible theft of medications
  • Failures or deficits in medication management
  • Protracted periods or frequent episodes of ill health
  • Certain criminal convictions.

Submitting a complaint

The PPC of NMBI can only deal with written complaints. If you wish to make a complaint, please put your complaint in writing and post to: 

PPC Division 
Fitness to Practise Department
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland
18-20 Carysfort Avenue
Blackrock
Co. Dublin 

Alternatively please email your complaint to complaints@nmbi.ie
If you wish you may submit your complaint to NMBI using the complaint form.

If you are considering making a complaint to NMBI, you should also consider what documentation you have to support any allegations. This may include completed investigation reports, copies of patients’ records, local or organisational protocols, and sick leave records. 

 

Checking registration status

As an employer you are responsible for ensuring that anyone you employ who holds themselves out to be a nurse or midwife is registered with NMBI. For more information on your registration obligations, go to our Employers and Registration page.
 

Further information

You can find out more about what is involved in making a complaint about a registered nurse or registered midwife, and what happens after a complaint is made on these pages:

Alternatively, you can read the booklet An Employer’s Guide to Making a Complaint which NMBI has prepared to assist employers understand the complaints process.

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An Employer’s Guide to Making a Complaint


(PDF, 1.42 MB)

Download

Additional resources

To understand what is expected of nurses and midwives, employers should be familiar with standards and guidance which NMBI has produced, as part of its remit to promote standards for the professions and protect the public. These include:

  • The Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics. The Code aims to support and guide nurses and midwives in their ethical and clinical decision making. For more information, visit our special section on the Code
  • Recording Clinical Practice. Nurses and midwives are professionally and legally accountable for the standard of care they deliver. The quality of records maintained reflects the quality of care they provide to their patients. Find out more
  • Guidance to Nurses and Midwives on Medicines Management. Nurses and midwives should know about the relevant legislation and protocols relating to the prescribing, dispensing, storage, supplying and administration of medications and medicinal products. For more information, visit the Medicines Management section
  • Guidance to Nurses and Midwives on Social Media. Social media can be used to benefit nurses and midwives professionally in terms of keeping up to date with current trends in health care and professional practice. The same standards of conduct expected of nurses and midwives in their professional practice also apply when they use social media and electronic forms of communication. Learn more about NMBI's social media guidance
  • Scope of Nursing and Midwifery Practice. Nurses and midwives should only perform tasks and carry out roles that they are educated, competent and authorised to perform. For more information, visit our special section on the Scope of Nursing and Midwifery Practice.

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