RAHIM YAR KHAN: The Sheikh Zayed College of Nursing (SZCN) has not become functional even one year after its completion primarily due to a lack of faculty.

The institute has been built at the Sheikh Zayed Medical College Hospital (SZMCH). No official of the University of Health Sciences (UHS) has visited the institute to begin the process of its affiliation.

The building of the SZCN was completed last year at a cost of Rs145 million to offer admissions to 100 students interested in BSN Generic (five-year nursing programme after FSc), 30 students in two-year post RN BSN diploma, 20 students in one-year diploma, 20 students in one-year ICU/CCU diploma and 20 seats are for one-year accidental and emergency diploma.

Its new admissions were scheduled to be opened in December. Before its establishment there was a four-year nursing diploma programme after the matriculation with science with one-year midwifery course and another three-year diploma but it was closed last year by the Pakistan Nursing Council (PNC).

After the completion of the new building of the SZCN adjacent to the SZMCH hostels, the PNC and UHS teams had to visit it for its affiliation and registration but no team had done the job. Similarly, the teaching faculty including principal had not been appointed till now.

Besides, a senior nurse had been given the additional charge as principal of the nursing school.

Sources told Dawn that Rs150 were being charged from the existing diploma students for the last many years in the name of recreational fund. Similarly, they said, 150 students of final midwifery diploma class were also charged Rs200 in addition to their Rs3,000 admission fee for the nursing school. There was no audit for both these amounts, said sources.

SZMCH Medical Superintendent Dr Ghulam Rabbani said he could comment only after discussing the matter with the nursing school principal.

Director General Nursing Punjab Kausar Parveen declined to comment.

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2019