IN PICTURES: Comprehensive Nursing Training phased out

Sep 10, 2022

Speaking before the education committee of Parliament, Muyingo, informed members that the health ministry is encouraging nurses who have received extensive training to upgrade.

(L-R) Grace Mugasa, public service state minister with John .C. Muyingo, Minister higher Education after Parliament’s committee on education. (All photos by Maria Wamala)

Maria Wamala
Photo Journalist @New Vision

PARLIAMENT | MOH | NURSING | PHASE-OUT

Comprehensive nursing certificate and diploma course training has been phased out because the ministry of health demands more nurses and midwives than comprehensive nurses, Dr. John C. Muyingo, the State Minister for Higher Education, has said.

“We have been training them for two and a half years to manage HCII at the parish level, and there was a big demand for them to handle both nursing and midwifery. However, the ministry of health has been demanding more nurses and midwives, "Muyingo said."

He added that the ministry of health is also phasing out health center IIs, converting them to health center IIIs. “So where will the comprehensive nurses work?” he queried, adding that as a ministry, their work is influenced by market demands.

For the comprehensively trained nurses, the health ministry is encouraging them to upgrade, Muyingo said while appearing before Parliament’s committee on education.

A section of legislators on the committee welcomed the move, saying it is a good idea because a comprehensive nurse knows only a small bit of nursing and a small bit of midwifery, so they are not adequately skilled and do not attract employers.

However, another section of legislators queried the decision to phase it out, saying that health center IIs are where they are employed, the most accessible health facility to the grassroots person. They said that the health center IIIs, where midwives and nurses are employed, are far to reach.

The Comprehensive Nursing course was first introduced in Uganda in 1993 to give a mixed set of skills from different nursing specialties like general nursing, psychiatry, pediatrics, community health nursing, and midwifery.

The Commissioner of Health Training Institutions at the Ministry of Education and Sports, Dr. Safina Musene, said that although the course has been the most preferred field of nursing by students, employers find it irrelevant.

“Since the new Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) policy is driven by the world of work or demand of employers, the Ministry of Education and Sports found the course to be redundant,” Dr. Musene said.

Government sponsorship

Nathan Itungo, MP for Kashari South, asked the ministry of education to remove the government sponsorship program because it only benefits a few students and instead put all the money into a student loan scheme that is accessible to everyone.

He made the plea citing the New Vision story "Government slashes grants to UPE, USE schools," saying that there is a lot of money in scholarships benefiting a few people, yet the majority are suffering financially.  

However, Muyingo said that although they have received many requests to that effect, it is a policy and it cannot just be done away with. He said that the ministry has to carry out consultations.

“We need to consult with stakeholders." We are aware that many people have been asking for this, but as for me, I think they can do both the loan scheme and the scholarships, "he said.

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