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Advanced Nursing Studies Programme in East Africa

The reputation and achievements of Aga Khan University (AKU) and the School of Nursing led senior nursing leaders in the three countries of East Africa to ask the University to consider developing a programme for the advancement of nursing in the region. 

The Advanced Nursing Studies Programme (ANS) was developed by Aga Khan University School of Nursing (AKUSON) in consultation with the nursing councils, the chief nursing officers of public and private hospitals and the Ministries of Health and Education of the governments of East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda), to improve the managerial and clinical practices of nurses currently working throughout the region.  Strongly supported by the nurses and governments of East Africa, the programme offers professional education within a lifelong learning framework, using a flexible 'modularized' approach.  ANS incorporates innovative educational approaches, including distance learning, to allow nurses, hospital administrators and medical officers to upgrade their skills and credentials without leaving the workplace. This systematic and comprehensive programme improves nursing practice and patient care delivery at primary, secondary and tertiary levels in the public and private sectors.  It prepares nurses to meet the challenges of health care that is changing at a rate unseen in history due to the combined forces of technological advances and financial constraints .  The programme provides career advancement opportunities for nurses generally and for women in particular.

The programme is a collaborative endeavour, underpinned by a range of formal and informal partnerships with government and private hospitals, nursing leaders and local faculty in each country, as well as linkages with prestigious international organisations such as the Royal College of Nursing of the United Kingdom.  Advantages of this approach include locally recruited faculty, shared expertise in curriculum development and international linkages.

The three programmes offered will be the Post RN BScN programme, Enrolled Nurse to Registered Nurse upgradation and a clinical specialist programme. In Uganda AKU has been offering Post RN BScN and EN to RN conversion programme since the beginning of 2001.