22 Nov 2011

Fiji nursing school staff hoping new courses will boost employment chances

12:38 pm on 22 November 2011

Staff at Fiji's College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at the Fiji National University are hoping new nursing courses can boost graduates' chances of being hired locally.

The Minister of Health Dr Neil Sharma says advanced education programmes for student nurses are being made available at the College.

The Director of Academic Services at the College, Apenisa Ratu, says there is now a bachelor in public health nursing and a postgraduate diploma in nursing management.

"We're hoping that through these upgrades and hopefully the Ministry of Health will recognise the upgrades and the better qualifications will give them a better condition of work to keep them in Fiji, and not giving them that opportunity to leave through migration."

Apenisa Ratu says work is also being done to upgrade the current diploma in nursing to a bachelor's degree by 2013.