Background of Curriculum For B. Sc in Nursing 2006 : Nursing Education in Bangladesh has long produced senior registered nurses (10-year general education plus 4-year nurse-midwife education). Concerns had been raised in various forums and evidenced in previous studies that current senior registered nurses (SRN) curriculum (1991) did not meet the goal to prepare clientand community-oriented nurses, that there was a discrepancy what was taught in the nursing institutes and what was practiced in the hospital, and that it was not fully implemented.1, 2, 3 In addition, there are several changes in health care system as well as emerging health issues and changing health care needs in Bangladesh in the past decades.
[ Background of Curriculum For B. Sc in Nursing 2006 ]
Therefore, the current curriculum was revised in 2004 and further refined in 2006 to be the Diploma Programme in Nursing Science and Midwifery (12-year general education plus 3-year nurse-midwife education).
In pursuance of endorsement for the above revised curriculum from Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoH & FW), the meeting to review the curriculum chaired by Honorable Minister of MoH & FW was conducted on July 5, 2006. It was decided that nurses in Bangladesh should be educated at bachelor’s degree, comparable to neighboring countries and as per international standards.
Producing bachelor’s degree nurses not only supplies professional nurses to meet the needs of people in the country but also offers opportunities to Bangladeshi nurses to work abroad. The meeting further decided that the BNC, a regulatory body of nursing education and services in Bangladesh1, is to develop standard bachelor’s degree nursing curriculum for nursing educational institutions of both public and private sectors to follow.
In light of the above decision and concerns, the BNC in collaboration with the Directorate of Nursing Services (DNS) has taken an action to develop standard bachelor’s degree nursing curriculum with technical assistance of World Health Organization, Bangladesh.
The B. Sc in Nursing course is developed to meet the needs of Bangladesh health care system. It prepares registered nurses as generalists and midwives in professional nursing practice. Graduates are equipped to function as leaders, managers, and resource persons in a variety of health care settings. High order thinking and clinical decision making are informed through both general and discipline specific education. Graduates are prepared to function in a rapidly changing society of Bangladesh and the globe as members or leaders of health care teams.
The curriculum is designed in response to the following considerations:
1. The curriculum framework reflects philosophical beliefs of the Bangladesh Nursing Council and its members in preparing competent, professional nurses to meet the need of national health care system.
2. The ever-changing health care needs require the curriculum to: (1) be dynamic and responsive to changing health care needs, policy and delivery system in Bangladesh, (2) integrate concepts considered core to nursing, (3) equip students to have computer and information literacy as well as research, (4) increase learning ability through sequencing courses from simple to complex and building on prior learning, and (5) increase students’ competencies overtime throughout the curriculum.
3. Concepts of human behaviors as they relate to the role of the professional nurse with clients and other health care professionals as well as importance of effective communication with individuals, families, and groups in order to develop caring relationship are emphasized in various courses.
4. The emphasis of improving quality nursing care, not only in Bangladesh but also all over the global health care system, urges the need to develop the nursing curriculum that meets international standards.
The B. Sc in Nursing course is developed to meet the needs of Bangladesh health care system. It prepares registered nurses as generalists and midwives in professional nursing practice. Graduates are equipped to function as leaders, managers, and resource persons in a variety of health care settings.
High order thinking and clinical decision making are informed through both general and discipline specific education. Graduates are prepared to function in a rapidly changing society of Bangladesh and the globe as members or leaders of health care teams.
The curriculum is designed in response to the following considerations:
1. The curriculum framework reflects philosophical beliefs of the Bangladesh Nursing Council and its members in preparing competent, professional nurses to meet the need of national health care system.
2. The ever-changing health care needs require the curriculum to:
(1) be dynamic and responsive to changing health care needs, policy and delivery system in Bangladesh
(2) integrate concepts considered core to nursing
(3) equip students to have computer and information literacy as well as research
(4) increase learning ability through sequencing courses from simple to complex and building on prior learning, and;
(5) increase students’ competencies overtime throughout the curriculum.
3. Concepts of human behaviors as they relate to the role of the professional nurse with clients and other health care professionals as well as importance of effective communication with individuals, families, and groups in order to develop caring relationship are emphasized in various courses.
4. The emphasis of improving quality nursing care, not only in Bangladesh but also all over the global health care system, urges the need to develop the nursing curriculum that meets international standards.
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