Though in developing countries nurses are considered as experienced and expert as doctors, in developing countries such as Pakistan there is a huge difference between them.

Experts believe that the difference can be removed by investing more on nursing and strictly regulating the institutions which are offering nursing programmes.

An official of the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) requesting not to be quoted told Dawn that during the last almost six decades no attention was given to the nursing sector.

“In other countries, nurses are considered even more experts and experienced than doctors but in Pakistan it is just the opposite because of the weak regulatory system governing the nursing education. As a result, there is no demand for Pakistani nurses in the international market and nurses from India, Philippines, Sri Lankan etc are working in different countries and earning foreign exchange for their nations,” he said.

Even in hospitals in Pakistan, nurses are not considered experts in their fields and in case of an emergency the attendants of a patient always try to call a doctor rather than a nurse.

“We need to take steps so that nurses would get the same respect as doctors. The Pakistan Nursing Council (PNC) has been taking a number of steps such as online registration of students to avoid chances of fake degrees,” he said.

The official said there were around 500 nursing schools and colleges in the country but a majority of them were producing incompetent nurses because of a lack of effective regulatory system. “There are one-year courses for midwives, two-year courses for nurses and four-year courses for generic nursing. We need to ensure the quality of the product,” he said.

On the other hand, the project of the first ever nursing university of the country, whose foundation was laid by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on January 6 this year, seems to be in a shambles as possession of the land for the institution could not be taken.

In 2014, King Hamaad of Bahrain announced that he would provide funds for the university as a gift for the people of Pakistan. It was decided that the government of Pakistan will arrange the land and utility services and the building would be constructed through funds from Bahrain.

The King Hamaad University of Nursing and Associated Medical Sciences will be established on 237 kanals at Park Road in Chak Shahzad, Islamabad. The university will cater to 2,000 students with 500 annual admissions. Residential facility will be provided to 1,000 nursing students on the campus.

In July last year, a delegation from Bahrain visited Islamabad to finalise the project. However, even after the inauguration of the work by the prime minister, the construction of the university could not be started.

A senior officer of the ministry of NHS said though the cost of the land had been paid, there were some constructions on the rear of the land whose owners were demanding compensation.

“However, as the groundbreaking has been held the project will be completed. The cost of the land has been paid to the CDA and a committee has been formed to address the issue,” he said.

PNC President Dr Rafat Jan told Dawn that there were so many issues in the field of nursing.

Dr Rafat, who did her PhD in nursing informatics from the School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Iowa, USA, said the number of nurses in Pakistan was lower than doctors.

“Developed countries have invested three times more on the nursing sector. We have also taken some steps such as in the past there was three years diploma for nurses but now it has been converted into a four-year bachelor programme,” she said.

“However, poverty and health indicators are very poor in the country. Other countries have nurse and midwife practitioners. I have worked along with midwives in other countries and they do a great job by visiting homes. That is why health indicators in those countries are very good,” she said.

“In developed countries, family nurses are doing all the work. They have nurses for every field such as cardiac nurses. Nurse practitioners are made at the master level and they do clinical practice. In Pakistan, there is a need to arrange clinical practice for nurses. In developed countries, the examination system is very good and there are three to four bodies which regulate the nursing education and institutes because patient safety is not taken lightly,” she said.

Dr Rafat suggested introducing nurse and midwife practitioners besides imparting training to the already existing nurses to bring an improvement to the sector.

In reply to a question, she said she had never seen a nursing university in the world so cannot say what would be the result of the new university.

“Usually, nursing colleges are located in universities and universities offer a number of other courses along with nursing. So we should wait and see what will be the result of the university,” she said.

To another question, Dr Rafat said universities should appoint nursing heads and deans. There should be nurses in all committees such as academic, research and syndicate.

“Moreover, we see doctors in most of advertisements such as that of toothpastes etc, but in other countries nurses are also engaged in such advertisements. We also need to work for the image building of the nursing sector,” she said.

Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2017