Over View

Overview

LBNM

The Liberian Board for Nursing and Midwifery (LBNM) regulate the education and practice of nursing and midwifery in Liberia. It is an autonomous agency operating from an Act of Legislature, amended 2016. LBNM is accountable to the Government of Liberia.

What Do We Do?

Our mandate is to safeguard the health and wellbeing of the public by making sure all nurses and midwives practicing have the skills, knowledge, good health and good character to work safely and effectively.

To do this:

We register all basic and advanced nurses and midwives wishing to practice in Liberia.

Set standards for basic and advanced nursing & midwifery education, training, performance and conduct to deliver high quality healthcare.

Offer CPS to ensure basic and advanced nurses, midwives keep their skills and knowledge up to date to uphold their professional standards.

Create an enabling environment with clear and transparent processes to investigate basic and advanced nurses and midwives who performances fall short of the standards.

The LBNM Register

The LBNM register is a public record of all basic and advanced nurses, midwives who have met the registration requirements and can therefore practice in Liberia. To remain on the register, basic and advanced nurses and midwives must follow the standards and guidance set up by LBNM which helps to ensure they practice safely and effectively.

What a Good Nurse or Midwife Does

We all find ourselves using the services of a nurse or midwife at some point in time. If a nurse or midwife is qualified she/he must follow standards and guidance to be fit to practice so patients can trust them with their health and well being. A good nurse or midwife will:

Follow the nursing and midwifery codes

The code is a professional code for all nurses and midwives. It sets our how they should conduct themselves in areas of their practice. If the code is followed, nurses and midwives will:

Treat their patients as individuals; they will treat them with respect and dignity and make them their first concern.

Work as a team to protect and promote the health and well being of the patient, the family or caretakers and the community.

Providing high standards of practice and care at all times.

Be honest, act with integrity and uphold the reputation of the nursing and midwifery professions.

Be Fit to Practice

To be fit practice means a nurse, midwife have the skills, knowledge good health and good character to do their job safely and effectively. The LBNM investigates the actions or behavior of a nurse or midwife and decide whether or not the nurse or midwife is fit to practice. The public and patient can access the nurse or midwife fitness to practice by identifying actions or behaviors of a nurse or midwife they think places the patient or public at risk.

Fitness to Practice Proceedings

We investigate basic and advanced nurses, midwives to help protect the health and wellbeing of the public by assessing if their fitness to practice is impaired. To do this assessment the LBNM investigate various allegations which may include:

Misconduct

Misconduct is a behavior which a nurse or midwife falls short of what is expected of him/her. Examples of misconduct are:

Physical or verbal abuse

Stealing

Delivering inadequate care

Lack of confidence

Lack of competence is not having the knowledge or skills or judgement which a nurse or midwife possesses and is unfit to practice safely and effectively in the field in which the claim to be or seek to practice. Examples of lack of confidence are:

Continued medical errors

Poor standards of practice

Lack of skills or knowledge

Poor judgement

Lack of delivering appropriate care

Bad character

Is what on would describe to indicate lack of moral or ethical strength in person resulting in serious legal conviction and caution. Examples of bad behavior are:

Fraud

Theft

Violence

Sexual offences

Drug dealing

Dishonesty

Engaging in non professional activities (e.g Facebook, movies, games etc.) while neglecting a patient

Acute or Chronic ill health

Good health means a person is in a good frame or mind where he/she is capable of delivering safe and effective practice to a patient. Good health in this context does not mean a person is disable or have a health condition, e..g diabetes, hypertension. Many person with long term health conditions or disable are able to practice with or without adjustments to support their practice. The concerns here are untreated health conditions, unmanaged serious mental health conditions that impair the person’s ability to practice or drug and substance abuse.