India’s B.Sc (nursing programme) has undergone its first major overhaul after 1947, making it a competency-based nursing curriculum. To be implemented from January 2022, the revised curriculum has been standardised, updated and aimed at bringing in uniformity in nursing education across India.
Medical ethics has been introduced for the first time.
The new system now adopts a credit-based, semester pattern with more emphasis on acquiring competency in each area of study. Also, forensic nursing and nursing informatics have been introduced in the syllabus.
Dr. Satendra Singh who teaches in a medical college and is a guest faculty at Florence Nightingale Nursing School at GTB Hospital, said the Indian Nursing Council (INC) has revised, and developed the syllabus under Section 16 of the Indian Nursing Council (INC) Act, to ensure uniform standard of nursing education in the country.
“The revised syllabus, which is the first major overhaul after 1947, has the word “dignity’ in at least six places which is a welcome addition and the introduction of ethics is also an enhanced addition,” said Dr. Singh.
Disability ignored
He added that unfortunately the revised curriculum does not include disability rights as well as disability competencies.
“It still includes the pejorative expressions ‘handicapped’, ‘mentally challenged’ and physically challenged. The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act mandates inclusion of disability rights in the higher education. Curriculum also excludes gender expression and identity components which Transgender Persons Act mandates be included,” he said.
Member of the INC and Professor (Dr.) Roy K. George said the changes will add quality and standardisation to the programme.
He said that based on the new curriculum, simulation based training is given specific importance in practical (10% of the practical are in the simulation lab).
Only Science students
“So students will go to the clinical area after the compulsory training in the simulation laboratories. Also the gazette does not permit the admission for non-science background students for B.Sc. Nursing program and minimum qualifying marks for entrance test shall be 50%. In the university theory paper pattern (For 75 marks), multiple choice questions have been added,” said Dr. George.
He added that internal assessment guidelines will now see continuous assessment based on attendance, written assignments, seminars, microteaching, individual presentation and group project, work and reports.
“The new system has also brought in mandatory modules for each specialisation and the student has to pass in all mandatory modules placed within courses and the pass mark for each module is 50%,” he said.
As per the new norms, colleges of nursing should mandatorily have 100 bedded parent or own hospitals. The trustee/ member/ director of the trust or society or company would not allow the hospital to be treated parent/ affiliated hospital to any other nursing institution and will be for a minimum 30 years. The beds of parent hospital shall be in one Unitary Hospital i.e. in the same building/same campus.
The revised rules also state that no institution or university will modify the syllabi prescribed by the Council for a course or program. However they can add units or subjects if required.
“It is mandatory that an institution shall have its own building within two years of its establishment,” the revised rule states.
