Table 15. Pre-service nursing enrolments and graduates, 2009–2018

A major issue highlighted during the nursing school audit was the lack of preceptorship training of students to meet the clinical component (Rumsey, et al., 2012). Currently, all diploma-level courses require 2000 hours of theory and 1600 hours of practicum; bachelor-level courses require 2666 hours of theory and 2133 hours of practicum. It has been reported that some schools have not had any preceptorship training in many years, and there is a lack of accredited assessors who are approved by the Nursing Council. Clinical tutors and supervisors are needed in all schools and need to be linked to clinical sites, but since there is a decentralized health system, the schools need to coordinate with multiple stakeholders including NDoH, PHAs and churches to organize clinical placements.

Post-basic education

Post-basic training of nurses includes: midwifery (Lutheran, PAU, St Mary’s, UoG, UPNG); a Bachelor of Clinical Nursing (specializing in child health, emergency nursing, intensive care nursing, perioperative or mental health); and a Bachelor of Nursing (management and education, or community health) for nurse administrators and nurse educators at UPNG (Table 16). Nurses may continue their education by completing a flexible two-year Advanced Diploma in Emergency Medicine or a one-year Advanced Diploma in Eye Care (qualifying them as ophthalmic nurse) at DWU.

The number of midwifery trainees has improved in recent years due to the Maternal and Child Health Initiative launched by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs in 2011. The number of enrolments has doubled from 71 in 2012 to 142 in 2015, with a corresponding increase in graduates from 67 to 88 between 2012 and 2014 (Table 17). Data from 2015 onwards are incomplete.

Table 16. Post-basic nursing enrolments and graduates at UPNG, 2009–2016

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Enrolment

Bachelor of Clinical Nursing (Emergency Nursing) 9 8 8 10 12 20 9 11

Bachelor of Clinical Nursing (Critical Care – Intensive Care Nursing) 8 7 6 9 10 23 12 9

Bachelor of Clinical Nursing (Perioperative) 7 6 5 9 11 25 10 8 Bachelor of Clinical Nursing (Child Health) 10 11 11 8 12 8 7 12 Bachelor of Nursing (Mental Health) 7 8 7 14 16 17 8 Bachelor of Nursing (Midwifery) 19 15 17 13 11 7 8 12 Bachelor of Nursing (Management & Education) 14 19 17 13 11 7 8 12 Bachelor of Nursing (Community Health) 10 11 5 6 14 6 18 9

Total 84 85 76 82 81 112 89 81

Graduates

Bachelor of Clinical Nursing (Emergency Nursing) Bachelor of Clinical Nursing (Critical Care – Intensive Care Nursing) 5 7 7 0 0 0

6 5 8

Bachelor of Clinical Nursing (Perioperative) 8 11 11 10 Bachelor of Clinical Nursing (Child Health) 14 8 8 11 11 10 14 17 Bachelor of Nursing (Mental Health) 7 8 6 5 8 0 10 7 Bachelor of Nursing (Midwifery) 16 15 11 16 20 22 17 34 Bachelor of Nursing (Management & Education) 14 14 18 18 8 7 13 20 Bachelor of Nursing (Community Health) 16 9 11 5 6 14 10 8

Total 70 57 73 62 76 72 74 86

Source: National Department of Health, 2018d.