IIHAS Nursing & Midwifery Department, established in 2016, is officially registered with the Ministry of Education and Sports (MOES) and holds the Examination Centre Number Uganda Nurses Midwifery Examination Board (UNMEB).
Licensed Courses:
- Diploma Nursing/Midwifery (Direct) – 3 years
- Basic Entry Requirements: ‘A’ level sciences with a Principal Pass in Biology and a subsidiary pass in Chemistry
- Award: Diploma
- Admission Time: Jan/ July
- Diploma Nursing/Midwifery (Upgrading) – 1 ½ years
- Basic Entry Requirements: Certificate in Nursing or Midwifery
- Award: Diploma
- Admission Time: Jan / July
- Certificate in Nursing or Midwifery – 2 ½ years
- Basic Entry Requirements: ‘O’ Level standard with passes in sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Biology, English, and Mathematics)
- Award: Certificate
- Admission Time: Jan/ July
Number of Teaching Staff:
- Nursing and midwives: 9
Number of Non-Teaching Staff:
- Non-Teaching Staff: 10
Practicum Attachment Sites / MOU’s:
- Rubaga Hospital
- Butabika Hospital
- Kisubi Hospital
Role of School to Learners: The School of Nursing and Midwives is designed to develop skills in communication with clients, support persons, other health professionals, and people in the community. Midwives are trained to care for pregnant women and their babies throughout antenatal care, labor, birth, and up to 28 days after the baby is born.
Curriculum Guiding Training of Learners: Students are trained using a Competency-Based Education curriculum, focusing on 70% practical and 30% theory. Competencies include Foundation of nursing, Microbiology, Human Anatomy and Physiology, Socio-Psychology, Primary Health Care, ICT, Entrepreneurship, First Aid, Research Method, Guidance & Counseling, medical nursing, surgical nursing, palliative care, mental health, pediatrics pharmacology, personal and communal health, midwifery, gynecology, reproductive health, community health, teaching methodology, management and leadership, disaster prevention preparedness and response, occupational health, health services management, and applied research. Assignments, practical work, research projects, directed self-study, active learning, and attachments are used to build student’s competencies. Those seeking to upgrade often take unique undergraduate nursing and midwifery courses at the Indian Institute of Health and Allied Sciences (IIHAS).
Practicum Attachments Site and Study Tours: Students usually have two months attachment every semester. The school is affiliated with Butabika Hospital, Lubaga Hospital, and Kisubi Hospital. Others where the school has applied for practicum attachment include Mulago National Referral Hospital, Kampala Capital City Authority Health centers, and Cancer Institute.
Teaching Hours For Upgrading Learners Only:
- Evening program: 3 pm – 9 pm (every day)
- Weekend program: (8 am – 9 pm) every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
- Weekdays: practicum attachment
Responsibilities After Completion of Nursing and Midwifery Course: As a midwife, responsibilities include:
- Monitoring and examining women during pregnancy
- Providing full antenatal care
- Identifying high-risk pregnancies
- Providing parenting and health education
- Offering support and advice following events such as miscarriage, termination, stillbirth, neonatal abnormality, and neonatal death
- Supervising and assisting mothers in labor
- Giving support and advice on the daily care of the baby
- Liaising with agencies and other health and social care professionals
As a nurse, responsibilities include:
- Preparing rooms and decontaminating equipment
- Preparing patients for examinations
- Educating patients’ families about the disease and its treatment
- Assisting doctors during surgery
- Resolving patients’ problems
- Interacting with healthcare teams
- Attending educational workshops
- Performing lab work and giving complete information to the physician
- Recommending drugs and other forms of treatment
- Observing and recording patients’ behavior
- Coordinating with physicians and other healthcare professionals
- Maintaining reports of patients’ medical histories
- Carrying out the requisite treatments and medications
- Checking the stock on a regular basis
- Changing patient’s medication as indicated by their conditions
- Maintaining hygienic and safe working environment
Career Prospects for Midwives and Nurses: As a Midwife, one could become a clinical specialist in areas such as:
- Public health
- Parenting education
- Intensive care neonatal units
- Ultrasound and fetal medicine
- A consultant midwife
- Occupational hygienist
- Ophthalmologist
- Hospital doctor
- Healthcare scientist
- Medical physics
- Music therapist
- Community pharmacist
As a Nurse, one could become a clinical specialist in areas such as:
- Hospice and palliative care nursing
- Neurosurgical nursing
- Research nursing
- Perianesthesia nursing
- Perioperative nursing
- Environmental health nursing
- Forensic nursing
- Obstetrical nursing
- Occupational health nursing
- Oncology nursing
- Orthopedic nursing
- Ostomy nursing
- Pediatric nursing, and others
Staffing:
The school is appropriately staffed with qualified and experienced professional trainers holding a minimum qualification of a bachelor’s degree in medical education or midwifery or nursing.
Students Association:
Students have formed the Indian Institute of Health and Allied Sciences Medical Laboratory Students Association. This association organizes seminars, presentations, and study tours to enhance the learning experience.
Training Facilities:
In addition to practicum sites, the school has a well-equipped skills laboratory for practical training.