The institute that produces world-class nurses
Grameen Caledonian College of Nursing, a social business initiative, is forging ahead, developing professionals for the healthcare service providers in Bangladesh and abroad.
Since its inception in 2010, a total of 127 students have graduated from the college to become nurses, and most of them got jobs at top hospitals in the country like Apollo and Square. One graduate was employed by a globally renowned airline.
“All the students are well-paid and in senior positions, as they are highly skilled,” said Tareq Md Ashaqul Chowdhury, senior manager of the college.
The college is a successful partnership between the Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) of Scotland and Grameen Healthcare Trust, set up by Nobel Peace laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus, with financial support from Nike Foundation and GCU.
The vision was to create an institution of global standards for high quality nursing and midwifery education in Bangladesh.
The college is following the Bangladesh Nursing Council curriculum, which was developed to educate students with internationally accepted competencies and standards of practice.
The national curriculum is in English and as a result, by the time students finish diploma, they will be competent professionals as well as proficient in English.
At present, the college has 166 diploma students and 40 Bachelor of Science students. Four students have already graduated from GCU on scholarships, while two more are currently enrolled; four more will go soon.
Initially, admission to the college was limited to the daughters of Grameen Bank members. Now, the BSc course has been made open to all; the three-year diploma course might follow suit.
Chowdhury said the nursing college is doing so well that it is the hospitals that contact the college to supply them with nurses. “None of our nurses had a problem getting a job.”
The college aims to become sustainable by 2016 and increase the quality and quantity of health education and deliver a step by step rise in the number of well educated health professionals.
Its goal over the next three years is to accommodate 500 students and move to a new purpose-built college. It plans to open 10 more colleges of nursing across the country in future.
In Bangladesh, 87 percent of mothers give birth without professional medical support and just 23,000 registered nurses serve 160 million people.
The nursing college's impact on healthcare and education was recognised last year at Business in the Community's Responsible Business Awards, when GCU became the first university to win the prestigious Unilever International Award for its work with Grameen to establish and support the college.
Comments