In pursuance of the law on the Directorate of Health, no. 41/2007 it has the authority to give authorisation and licenses to health care personnel. The Directorate of Health has in the past few years been developing electronic registries on various health care professionals and has currently compiled registries of physicians, dentists, nurses and midwives. Certain data from these registries are accessible on the website of the Directorate of Health, where they are regularly updated. The registries are useful, for example, for the registration of health care facilities, monitoring, planning and statistical analysis, e.g. for international databases.

By the end of 2010, a total of 4410 nurses and 460 midwives had been granted a licence to practise. However, these numbers do not indicate how many people were actively employed in each profession in Iceland during the year. They indicate those that have a license to work according to The Directorate of Health Registers, regardless of nationality, permanent residence and whether they are working.

http://www.landlaeknir.is/lisalib/getfile.aspx?itemid=3639 (updated 2011) (accessed 21.09.2011)

The Nursing Council

According to the law on nurses no. 8/1974 the role of the Nursing Council is to assess whether an applicant coming from countries outside of the EEA has the necessary educational qualifications for nursing license in Iceland. Also to assess if an applicant for specialist license has the right qualifications to get a license as such.