The existence of illegal nursing schools across the country is a cancer to the health sector that needs to be addressed immediately.
An investigation by the medicines and health service delivery monitoring unit reveals that these schools are offering courses which are not relevant to our health system. The official position by the Ministry of Health is that the position of nursing assistants has been phased out and there is no more absorption of these assistants into the health sector.
However over 70 percent of the students enrolled in these illegal schools were doing a nursing assistant course.
The monitoring unit found that nearly all the schools operating illegally lacked adequate clinical experience for training students.
One example is Pancrass Okojo in Mayuge, a former porter in St. Francis Buluba Hospital, who forged a certificate as a nursing assistant and proceeded to open up a cancer clinic and nurses training school.
The school proceeded to ‘graduate’ 400 students in the last ten years.
The report also shows that majority of the students enrolled are below the age of 18 and some had just completed primary seven instead of senior four with a background of science subjects.
The few schools that were investigated and already released students onto the unsuspecting public as health workers come from Ntungamo, Musinga teaching hospital and have released 140 students in the last two years.
In Lira district KN forwarding medical services released seven students in one year, Lira laboratory technical school 1,200 students or the last ten years and Ronam nursing school 150 students for the last five years.
In Kamuli, Were Clinic released 210 students in the last seven years and CTI Laboratory Technicians school had 150 students in the last five years.
The report also cites M and S General clinic in Old Kampala that has released 20 fake nurses for the last two years.
Dr. Atwiine Diana the head of the monitoring Unit says its time they all are closed down.
Appearing before Parliament’s health committee this week Dr. Atwiine also appealed to Parliament to ensure medical workers are trained by the ministry of health and not placed under the ministry of Education.
//Cue in: “Illegal nursing schools…
Cue out:…is not acceptable.”//
Investigations also found that some of the tutors were quacks. For example in Kamuli at Were Clinic, Bazanya Simon claimed he was a public dental officer but investigations revealed he had no documents. Those he had submitted of Ordinary level belonged to a lady.
The team also established that these schools were operating with the knowledge of senior health officials in the districts. The Community training institute for Lab technologists in Kamuli was run by a health worker in Kamuli hospital. In Ntungamo, Musinga Christian School Teaching Hospital had the district health officer on its board.
The ill-trained nurses also found their way into government facilities for example the Kamuli district service commission recruited nursing assistant Kayima Sara at Nabirimia Health centre three. She could not express herself in English and confessed she only knew how to inject.
Dr. Atwiine also noted that when arrested some of these quack trainers are convicted and fined amounts that are not comparable to the damage inflicted to the community.
