Nursing is a globally recognized profession, which is of great demand worldwide. Although the nursing professionals in our healthcare industry are doing an excellent job trying to maintain international standards in the local arena, the lack of opportunities for continuous learning in nursing education is an obstacle for them. Our nurses acquire their discerning skills with the minimum of resources and they have been playing a major role in bringing the Sri Lankan healthcare system up to being one of the best in the South East Asian region. However, the lack of opportunities for our nurses to uplift their knowledge has fettered their careers.

In this context, the International Institute of Health Sciences (IIHS) has organized several academic programmes for the benefit of the nursing professionals and also for other health sectors in Sri Lanka with collaborations from Deakin University, Edith Cowan University & TAFE South Australia, Hertfordshire University- UK, and SUNY Canton University- USA. And also IIHS is a recognized learning centre for Open University of Malaysia and now with this collaboration between Open University Malaysia (OUM) and IIHS, our Nurses will have the opportunity to upgrade their knowledge by furthering their education up to Bachelor's (BSc) and Master's (MSc) Degrees in Nursing.

The primary objective of this programme is to upgrade the knowledge and skills of the Nursing professional in Sri Lanka, with a view to advance the quality standards to an international level, and facilitate the entry of nursing professionals into international healthcare facilities worldwide. Improving the image of Sri Lanka as a provider of caring, confident and competent Nursing professionals to the global healthcare industry is the secondary objective of this venture.

This two-year part-time programme is arranged conveniently so as not to disturb the existing workload of our nursing officers. Therefore, nurses following this part-time course could conveniently self-study and they are required to attend classes only three times per month, but they do have 24x7 access to OUM's comprehensive e-library which has a collection of Books, Journals and Research materials pertaining to Nursing.. IIHS has made this degree very affordable to the Sri Lankan Nurses compared to other foreign degrees around the world, and nurses have the option of paying the course fee on instalment basis or we could support to obtain a study loan from the Bank of Ceylon at a competitive rate.

This would be the 2nd intake of the Bachelor (Hons) Nursing Science Degree and the students who started in 2010 have completed one year of studies successfully, and are providing positive feedback about the outcomes of the study programme. The second intake would start on May 26 and we have planned to start the Master of Nursing programme also within this year, so that the Registered Nurses have a continuous pathway to enhance their capacity. Another opportunity is that the Nurses have the option of specializing in three nursing areas out of six. The areas are Critical care Nursing or Trauma and Emergency Nursing, Paediatric Nursing or Mental Health Nursing, Oncology Nursing or Renal Nursing.

The lecturers who conduct lectures at IIHS are all foreign qualified professionals with foreign experience. This programme is coordinated by Sister Geraldine Michael- RN, BSc, MSc (Australia) and supervised by Professor Che'an Ahmad- RN, PhD. The Head of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences of OUM Professor Che'an Ahmad stated, "Nursing is the number one profession in the world. It is in high demand worldwide and nurses should be proud of their profession.

They are respected as professionals and as a major part of the hospital team with the doctors, administrators and other professionals. OUM already has 400 nurses enrolled in this programme.
Mrs. Asoka Abeynayake who is a senior lecturer of Post Basic Nursing School in Colombo commented that the international BSc and MSc study programmes which IIHS offers totally in Sri Lanka, is a great way to achieve the dreams of the Sri Lankan nurses who want to prosper in their careers.

According to Ven. Muruththettuwe Ananda Thero who is the President of the Public Services United Nurses Union, it is a great opportunity for the nurses to qualify themselves with a high quality, international BSc or MSc degree which is made very affordable by IIHS, a trusted private organization in the Health sector. And also it makes the Sri Lankan nurses competitively equal to the nurses of any other country.

The cooperation given to IIHS by the Health Ministry of Sri Lanka and by the Public Services United Nurses' Union was appreciated greatly by Ms. Nishani Kulatunga, the College Director of IIHS.
According to Dr. Kithsiri Edirisinghe, the Managing Director of IIHS, the Nurses would essentially require higher qualification like BSc and MSc in the future with the development of the Health sector, irrespective of whether they want to go abroad or continue to work locally and prosper in their careers.

He also mentioned they can help to obtain affordable study loans from BoC to facilitate the paying capacity of the Sri Lankan Nurses. We have now commenced registrations for the May 2011 batch and only a limited number of seats are available. Join with us to achieve your career dreams!