Karachi, May 19, 2022 (PPI-OT):AKU has developed Pakistan’s first Advanced Practice Nursing (APN) training programme, which is endorsed by the Pakistan Nursing Council as a pilot programme for potential scale-up, and is currently being discussed with the regulatory bodies for its formal launch in the country.
This was announced by Dr Rozina Karmaliani, Dean of AKU School of Nursing and Midwifery, at an event celebrating the nurses and midwives. Speakers highlighted various challenges faced by nurses and midwives, their invaluable contribution to the healthcare system and the proposed strategy to improve the working conditions as well as career growth opportunities for them.
“Currently, the burden of healthcare is unevenly distributed with only one nurse supporting two doctors, midwives and Lady Health Workers combined. With APN training and practice, nurse specialists will be able to manage preventive and non-communicable diseases thereby reducing the overall healthcare burden,” Dr Karmaliani pointed out.
“The health care system needs a transformative approach given the growing challenges in terms of the pandemic and climate change and to bridge the gap between what is desired and what is happening on ground,” emphasized Khairunnissa Hooda, Interim Chief Nursing Officer at Aga Khan University Hospital.
“Simultaneously, there’s a paradigm shift in the way patients are consuming healthcare services, they want it to be close to their home and community. We are targeting to launch a general model of APN and gradually progress to sub-speciality model. It would positively impact the patients’ access, their experiences, and clinical outcomes. Hence, we believe this is absolutely the right time to develop APN roles in Pakistan,” she added.
Chief guest on the occasion, AKU President Sulaiman Shahabuddin praised the efforts of nurses and midwives. “We celebrate the countless contributions that nurses and midwives make every day to our health and wellbeing. AKU has been following World Health Organisation guidelines and engaged in promotion of nursing and midwifery for over four decades in education, jobs, leadership and service delivery to meet Universal Health Targets and Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing,” he said.
“Today, we are so proud that AKU has graduated more than 8,000 nurses in Pakistan, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda,” he added. Professor Lisa Bayliss-Pratt, Program Director at Nursing Now Challenge encouraged early career nurses to become a part of Nursing Now Challenge, a global platform that brings together nurses from around the world, supporting them with leadership capacity building, advocacy and clinical skills.
Sandra Oyarzo Torres, VP at International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) highlighted the role of ICM in collaborating with midwives globally. She urged everyone to provide fair working conditions and standardised regulations for midwives. Dr Zeenat S Khan, Regional CEO, Aga Khan Health Services stressed that investing in nursing education and nursing jobs goes hand in hand. “Advanced Nurse Practitioners will be able to work in the communities ensuring equal health access for all.”
Other panellists included Dr Shahid Shafi, Chief Executive Officer, AKUH; Dr Asim Belgaumi, Chief Medical Officer, AKUH; and Dr Adil Haider, Dean. AKU Medical College. Dr Carl Amrhein, Provost and Vice President, Academics also spoke at the event.
For more information, contact:
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Aga Khan University (AKU)
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