Regulation of nursing and midwifery in Ireland experienced an ideological
shift with the enactment of the Nurses and Midwives Act 2011. This Act
migrated board membership from traditional registrant-led self-regulation, to
a non-registrant majority, colloquially ‘the lay-majority’. This paper reviews
the experiences of board members on being part of this lay-majority, the
concept of board member identity, and members’ experiences of onboarding.
Interpretativist in nature, an insider, action research, mixed methods frame
was deployed. Findings demonstrate the lay-majority concept was initially
contentious for registrants. Data also highlights a disparity between members’
expectations and experienced boardroom realities. Finally, board members’
experiences of onboarding were of a process in need of improvement. The
paper concludes by proposing a ‘lifecycle model of regulatory board member
onboarding’. This model stresses the importance of board members’
understanding of the regulatory governance frame, and application of
sociocultural approaches to learning as key enablers to becoming an effective
board member.