It would not be wrong to say that nursing is currently the most versatile field in medicine. The more its need increases, the more students are inclined towards this field. Nursing is a four-year degree program that is conducted in various government and private nursing colleges in Pakistan. The fifth year is a house job, which is an important part of the nursing degree, but its issue is still under discussion. Some government nursing colleges do not provide internships and those that do provide them pay less. Most private nursing colleges do not even have their own hospitals, due to which nursing students have to face difficulties like clinical practice and internship.
Nursing courses are conducted under the administration of Bolan Medical University in Balochistan, Khyber Medical University in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, University of Health Sciences in Punjab, Dow Medical University in Sindh and Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University in the Federation. This is done after intermediate and you must have 60% marks in intermediate.
The merit of government nursing colleges is very high and the merit of private nursing colleges is slightly less. It would not be wrong to say that the merit of this field is also high for MBBS. No entry test is mandatory for admission in nursing. But some universities and private nursing colleges conduct an entry test, i.e. Nursing Admission Test. This four-year program consists of eight semesters, the regular curriculum of which is issued by the university. Earlier there was an annual system, but now the universities have issued a new curriculum in a modern style and have changed the annual system to a semester system.
Nursing degree, which is currently the most sought-after degree, is very difficult to get clinical practice for. Colleges that have their own hospitals regularly organize clinical sessions for students. Students go to hospitals to practice and take care of patients, and staff nurses also give them guidelines. There is another thing here that students who are in government nursing colleges get a great opportunity to practice and learn. The reason is that they have their own hospitals, which are in the government sector. There are a huge number of patients here, and thus nursing students get a good opportunity to practice.
On the contrary, students of private nursing colleges who go to private hospitals for practice do not get the opportunity to learn as much work because there are fewer patients and more protocols. And the rest of the students who are pursuing their degrees in nursing colleges that do not have their own hospitals face difficulties. Colleges would send students to different hospitals. Giving affiliation to colleges that do not have their own hospitals is the incompetence of the Pakistan Nursing Council and the university.
As the demand for male nursing is increasing, its seats in colleges and universities are decreasing. There are almost no male nursing colleges in the government sector and the private sector does not have male students because they are not controlled by them. Not following the 50:50 ratio of male and female of the Pakistan Nursing Council shows the incompetence of the Nursing Council and the university in Pakistan.
The issue of paid internship after obtaining a degree is still under discussion because the government has not yet been able to provide scale 17 to nurses. Since scale 16 is available, the government does not provide internships to students. Thus, many students face problems like paid internships. Private nursing colleges provide paid internships. Therefore, while taking admission, it should be kept in mind that you should take admission in the same college that has its own hospital and provides paid internships.
After getting a degree, you have to get a license from the Pakistan Nursing Council, after which you are eligible to work. The average salary of nurses is between seventy thousand and eighty thousand. But you can further your education by doing MS Nursing, which is a two-year program after BS Nursing and is offered in only six universities in Pakistan.
After doing nursing, you can get a job in a hospital. Apart from being a head nurse, you can also teach in nursing colleges. This is currently the field with the highest scope in the medical industry and it is in high demand in Pakistan as well as in foreign countries. Every year, thousands of nurses go to Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Kuwait and European countries. Its demand is increasing over time. Similarly, the trend of students is increasing in this direction, which is why this is the field with the highest scope at the moment.
