Top Polytechnics and Colleges Offering Nursing in Nigeria
We can’t ignore the consensus that there are no polytechnics and colleges offering Nursing, but it is imperative you know that there indeed has been some development around this. We now have some polytechnics and colleges offering Nursing, much to the pleasure of students and guardians.
Before we discuss further this recent change and how beneficial it can be for the stakeholders involved, you need to know that polytechnics, though being solid academic institutions, were created with the intent of producing the best engineers and some other career prospects in art and commercial.
This leaves colleges of technology to deal with the training of students in health-allied careers like community health officers and assistants. So, the fact that polytechnics or colleges don’t offer lucrative medical courses doesn’t make them any less than universities that offer such courses. It is only a case of what it was created for.
You would be thinking to yourself, why then the sudden change? Since polytechnics were created to handle engineering and minimal areas in art and commercial, why the deviation? It isn’t a deviation from purpose, per se. It is only an evolution of purpose. We can argue that as the field of Nursing is evolving and by virtue of this, the demand for more tertiary institutions, whether private or public, has invariably intensified.
Conditions for Polytechnics Colleges Offering Nursing
However, polytechnics can’t just wake up one day and decide to start awarding OND and HND degrees in Nursing. The Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN) released five prerequisites before we can have polytechnics and colleges offering Nursing. They are:
The said program must be for a study duration of four years before the OND and HND degrees are awarded.
To gain admission into these polytechnics and colleges offering Nursing, you must have a minimum of five credits in Mathematics, English, Biology, Physics, and Chemistry in the WASSCE examinations or its equivalence.
The graduates from these polytechnics and colleges offering Nursing will have to take the Council’s examinations before they can obtain the certificate that confirms them as registered nurses, which finally avails them the opportunity to specialize in any area in midwifery or public health nursing.
The polytechnics and colleges offering Nursing must operate under the College of Nursing, and the award of admission would be through the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB).
The last condition was that the various polytechnics and colleges offering Nursing must have departments in Nursing, Public health, and Midwifery, all equipped with certified lecturers and instructors.
Trust that these conditions were met by disapproval by nurses and even stakeholders, resulting in few students embracing this new development. These students have decided to settle for established federal and private universities offering Nursing in Nigeria or study health-related courses in colleges of technology and polytechnics in Nigeria.
List of Polytechnics and Colleges Offering Nursing
Despite fierce opposition, some polytechnics and colleges still went against all odds and fulfilled the conditions mentioned above. Some of these schools are:
Nigerian Army College of Nursing, Yaba
Established by the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Army College of Nursing makes it to the list of polytechnics and colleges offering Nursing.
They are eligible to award OND and HND degrees in Nursing to successful graduates. Interestingly, the school isn’t only open to military and paramilitary students; students of civilians are also welcome.
College of Nursing and Midwifery, Katsina
This particular polytechnic is also known as Kasimu Kofar Bai School of Nursing. Like every other school of Nursing, they award OND/HND degrees in Nursing after the student completes the four-year study duration. Only students with a minimum grade point average of 2.5 can move to get an HND degree.
Nigeria Airforce School Of Medical Science And Aviation Medicine, Kaduna
It is only a pretty small number of colleges of Nursing that require UTME results as a criterion for admission. The Nigerian Airforce School of Medical Science and Aviation Medicine is one such school. As a result of this, the school is qualified to award OND/HND degrees in Nursing to students.
Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital School of Nursing, Ile-Ife Osun State
As we saw earlier in the conditions provided by NMCN, before any school can be regarded as one of the polytechnics and colleges offering Nursing, the Joint Admission Matriculation Board’s UTME must serve as an admission prerequisite.
Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital School of Nursing, also known as OAUTCH, requires UTME to be given admission to study Nursing; hence, they can award OND/HND degrees in Nursing.
Some Other Polytechnics and Colleges Offering Nursing
For some polytechnics and colleges, you need to know that it isn’t entirely clear whether they offer Nursing; however, their mention in JAMB’s brochure is reason enough to believe they offer Nursing. Below is the list of such polytechnics and colleges offering Nursing.
Imo State College of Nursing and Health Science
Gombe State College of Nursing and Midwifery
Tafawa Balewa School of Nursing and Midwifery
Oyo State College of Nursing and Midwifery, Eleyele, Ibadan
School of Nursing and Midwifery, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi
Cross River State College of Nursing and Midwifery
Conclusion
At this juncture, it is understandable if you have doubts that polytechnics and colleges are starting to take up courses like Nursing. The good news is you need not worry if this is only a temporary arrangement that could be dissolved in a short time.
This is because polytechnics and colleges offering Nursing couldn’t have begun operations in the first place if the NMCN hadn’t signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) in January 2017 to authorize these colleges to award professional certificates such as RN, RM or RPHN.
Meanwhile, it is worth knowing that NBTE only aligns with the National Policy of Education in Nigeria. The Federal government of Nigeria believes that education, Nursing, and Midwifery inclusive, in contemporary times, are fast evolving, and as part of efforts to stay in touch with the changing times, the scope of education in colleges and polytechnics needs to be broadened.
