Dr Karn Cliffe has been appointed Director of Professional Standards – Midwifery, with The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI)
Karn has worked with NMBI, as Midwife Project Lead, on a part-time basis since July 2023. She was Director of Nursing and Midwifery for Research, Practice Standards and Quality with the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group since November 2022. From June to November 2022, Karn was Interim Chief Director of Nursing and Midwifery for the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group.
“I am delighted to announce that Dr Karn Cliffe has been appointed as Director of Professional Standards – Midwifery of NMBI,” said NMBI CEO, Sheila McClelland.
“Karn will draw on her wealth of experience across practice, research and leadership to lead debate and deliver on progressive strategies for the profession of midwifery.”
Karn qualified as a nurse in the Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Dublin and later as a midwife from City University London.
She spent several years in Australia, working as a midwife. While there, she developed an interest in maternal morbidity and mortality. She undertook an MSc in Advance Nursing/Midwifery Practice in Clinical Education, through the James Cook University and wrote a Training Manual for Traditional Birth Attendants in South-East Asia.
On her return from Australia, she worked at the University Maternity Hospital Limerick briefly and at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda. While working in Drogheda, she undertook a Clinical Doctorate in Midwifery through Stirling University, Scotland.
During the pandemic Karn was redeployed to various roles supporting acute settings and Residential Care Facilities on COVID-19 prevention and monitoring initiatives. From January 2021 to December 2022, she led out on the COVID-19 vaccination programme for Dublin Midlands Hospital Group and the Citywest Vaccination Centre. Prior to this, she worked with the National Sepsis Programme and the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group as an Assistant Director of Nursing and Midwifery.
In December 2022, Karn was conferred with The Fellowship of the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. In January 2023, she was awarded Adjunct Professor title at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin.
