Nursing in the Republic of Ireland

Nursing is self-regulated in Ireland. The regulatory body is An Bord Altranais (The Nursing Board). The board was established under the 1950 Nurses Act and currently operates under the 1985 Nurses Act. There are currently over 82,000 nurses registered by An Bord Altranais of which over 65,000 are on the active register ABA Statistics 2006.
There are currently nine divisions of the register: nurse prescriber, advanced nurse practitioner, general, psychiatric, children's, intellectual disability, midwifery, public health and tutor.
Developments.
Significant changes have occurred in Irish nursing since the publication of Report of The Commission on Nursing, A blueprint for the future.
Nurse education.
Pre-registration nurse education is university and college based. All pre-registration programmes are at degree level (NQAI level 8). Nurse registration education programmes are governed An Bord Altranais Requirements & Standards.
Significant developments have occurred in post registration nurse education with a variety of programs available to nurses to support their practice and develop their career.