Daily Times

Pakistan has only 90,000 qualified nurses to cater to over 232 million populations whereas the country has already a significant gap in doctor-patient ratio which eventually results suffering of patients in hospitals while to enhance the strength of nurses is contemporary way out to cope with this overwhelming issue in medical sector.

This was said by Pakistan Nursing Council (PNC) Registrar Fozia Mushtaq. She said that in the last few years the number of recognized nursing institutes in the country has significantly increased as earlier it was around 500 in 2018 across the country that has been increased to over 2000 now.

While talking to Daily Times, Fozia Mushtaq said that there is a dire need to develop a nursing educators’ course to enhance the nursing profession and build the capacity of nursing faculty as well adding that such courses will be accredited by PNC and will be necessary to pass before serving as a nursing faculty member.

The Registrar claimed that the PNC has taken the steps to uplift the profile of nursing and shifted to a baccalaureate degree education in nursing which is being executed uniformly all over the country.

The PNC started the enrolment in nursing through baccalaureate that transformation, she explained, brought many challenges as well, adding that currently facing nursing and midwifery in Pakistan for instance, poor governance and organizational structures, weak leadership and management practices, incapable information system which is unable to provide sound evidence for decision-making in practice, service development, education, regulation, and policy development.

Fozia Mushtaq recalled that at this age of modernization the development of the capacity of nursing educators was very pivotal. “The PNC is trying its utmost efforts to develop the capacity of nurses as much as it is required in the changing health care climate of this age,” she maintained, adding that the nursing educators have a crucial role to strengthen the nursing workforce and build an internal nursing program based on levels of curriculum content.

The Registrar further said that the PNC expanded the nurses’ education with ultramodern needs of this profession to raise their capacity building. “Now the institutes are offering PhD in nursing, Masters in Public Health (MPH), Master in Nursing (MSN), Bachelor of Nursing in Generic (BSN),” she said highlighting that so for 10 nurses got PhD degrees, 335 in graduates, 444 students have been awarded MSN degrees and around 12500 students granted bachelor degrees in this profession.

The PNC’s council, supreme decision making body, in recently declared Family Welfare Workers diploma and LHV diploma as an Associate Degrees programs, she recalled adding that journals of nursing and midwifery also initiated with collaboration of the University of Lahore.

For financial assistance of the deserving students, more than 1000 scholarships for nurses related to BSN, MSN and 13 PhD programs on merit basis have been awarded, she maintained, adding that the PNC also relaxed the faculty recruitment criteria for new colleges offering BSN programs to encourage them for this new degree program.

Previously the institutes only offered 2 years diploma in nursing assistant or license in practical nursing, three- year general nursing diploma, one-year midwifery diploma and community midwife 02 years diploma program. Fozia Mushtaq recalled that now the nursing education has totally upgraded which, she said, is not limited to only a few diplomas or certificates.

Furthermore, she asserted, after modernization the acceptance of nursing profession education also increased among the youth and their parents. “Now days parents who think only to be their children’s doctor or other professionals are willingly enrolling in aforementioned kinds of nursing education,” she appreciated.

The PNC started ICU training for COVID-19 nurses “basic for nurse” in collaboration with the Health Service Academy in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the outbreak of the novel virus.

Development of uniform rules and regulation for all provincial nursing examination boards which are at the top approval stage, she said.