Country faces shortage of trained nursing staff

Universal health coverage among the govt’s top priorities: Kiyani

ISLAMABAD: The country is facing an extreme shortage of nursing professionals and there is an urgent need to take appropriate short term and long term actions in the right direction to produce more trained professionals in this field.

A meeting held at the Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination (NHSRC) focused on sharing a vision of the newly elected government to bring the profession at par with international standards, meet the country requirement to achieve “Health for All” vision through skilled and well trained nurses and midwives.

The stakeholder meeting was held to devise a road map to strengthen nursing and midwifery profession in Pakistan. The meeting was chaired by NHSRC Federal Minister Aamir Mehmood Kiyani and Parliamentary Secretary, Federal Secretary Health Zahid Saeed and NHSRC Director General.

The meeting was attended by renowned professionals of international repute, head of institutes, armed forces nursing services and provincial representatives. The group appreciated the government’s initiative to up lift the profession, enhance the quality of nursing and midwifery profession through quality education and skill based training.

In the meeting Kiyani was informed that currently around 100,000 nursing professionals are registered with Pakistan Nursing Council (PNC), of which the majority, 78,000 has completed their diploma in nursing in addition to around 12,000 LHVs and 7,000 midwives. Only 5,000 of said nurses qualified with a Bachelor’s degree in nursing BSN, 190 with a Master’s degree and only nine PhDs in nursing, which explains the dearth of faculty in nursing institutes and quality of education.

Kiyani said universal health coverage is one of the government’s priorities and this cannot be achieved without a well-trained and motivated nursing and midwifery work force. The country is facing an extreme shortage of nursing professionals and there an emergent need to take appropriate short term and long term actions in the right direction.

Moreover he ensured that the government will provide all the possible support to meet the challenges, promote the nursing profession and to meet the country’s demand.  He further said that the government of Pakistan intends to bring the profession at par with international standards through devising new policies, setting future directions, improving regulations and investment.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30^th, 2018.