What is Nursing Graduation ?

Nursing Graduation is the completion of initial nursing training, course, degree or diploma in nursing education. For instance; Nursing is the profession or practice of providing care for the sick, involving science, skills and social influence in the recovery of sick people.

Graduation is the course of study or training which has been successfully completed by a person, especially being awarded an undergraduate or first academic degree.

Understanding the both, Nursing Graduation is an undergraduate or graduate degree or first academic degree awarded to a nurse who has successfully completed a Nursing course of study, nursing program or nursing training in a time period settled by board, university or education commission according to the standards or assigned credit hours.

Diploma in general nursing or associate degree in nursing is the basic level of nursing education for many nurses to begin a career as a professional nurse, especially in Asia Pakistan. These levels of education are considered as an undergraduate degree in nursing which is the least requirement to become a registered nurse (RN) or having a license to practice nursing approved by a council, state or country, whereas a graduate degree can lead to a variety of careers in the nursing field, including specialized type of nursing practice, research, nursing case manager or nursing administration, nurse practitioner, certified clinical nurse specialist, or nursing educator.

More often Nursing graduation degree of four years after general academic education of twelve years is considered as a bachelor degree. A student nurse learns what is already known in the undergraduate level but in graduate level a student nurse learns to add his existing knowledge of the field. For understanding the Nursing Graduate is a nurse who has obtained a bachelor degree and is now pursuing a master’s degree, comparatively an undergraduate nurse is considered a nurse who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree.

Graduate degree in nursing can allow a nurse to advance into many roles to perform as a nurse or having a specialized field in nursing to focus on, whereas an undergraduate has to learn a variety of courses as general education requirements.

 Nursing Career in Pakistan

There are some common types of nursing education for nursing students in Pakistan which leads to different professional roles. The undergraduate nursing program are:
Nursing Assistant One Year Diploma/certificate will be attained by any recognized hospital after having at least matriculation

Diploma in Midwifery

Pupil Midwifery is a 15 month program that offers an extensive hospital based clinical experience.

Community Midwifery is an 18 month program, which includes a three month community practicum, where students are expected to return to their community and gain exposure to relevant midwifery cases in addition to hospital based clinical experience.

Nurse Midwifery is a 12 month program intended for those nurses who have completed either a three year General Nursing Diploma or a four year BSN Nursing

Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) 

2 year Diploma program leading to practice as a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN). The program offers knowledge, skills and professional attitude at lower cost as compared to RN. After completion of the course, LPN will be a safe clinical nurse, who can provide care at primary, secondary and tertiary levels in association with RN in hospitals and community settings. Students enrolled in Private/government institutions for 2 years having at least Metric with Science 45% minimum or Metric with Arts 50% minimum as per the Pakistan Nursing Council (PNC)

Diploma in General Nursing

In Pakistan acquired the time duration of 3 years and eligibility  criteria settled by Pakistan Nursing Council is; applicant must meet one of the following academic levels that is FSc (Pre-Medical) with 50% marks minimum or Matric (Science) with 55 % marks minimum

Post Basic Specialized Diploma in Nursing  

PBDN - took one year to complete and it's only possible after having diploma in general nursing

Baccalaureate of Science in Nursing 

BSN of one Year Fast Track Program initiating as a BSN for those faculty members who are Registered Nurses and Registered Midwives with Diploma in Ward and Teaching Administration (for senior nurses). The applicants who already have undergraduate nursing degrees, interested in becoming nursing teachers would be required to attend this 10-week long course and for their participation they will receive a certificate. 

Post RN BSN Nursing 

Two Years Degree Program or RN to BSN took two year to complete and it's only possible after having diploma in general nursing, post basic specialized diploma in nursing and at least two years of clinical experience although it is an undergraduate course but it is not a basic course as student nurse learns to add his existing knowledge of the field by this course. Moreover the exception that its an undergraduate course but after this course a student nurse may apply for the master programs

The graduate nursing programs are:

Generic Nursing Four Years Bachelor Degree or Generic BSN took four year to complete and admission eligibility required at least FSc (Pre-Medical) with 50% marks minimum

Master of Science in Nursing Two Years Degree (2 year)

The completion time of the programme is two years for full-time students and five years for part-time students. However, the respective course is a graduate level course but eligibility may differ from university to university but post RN bsn or generic bsn with 2 years of experience and PNC licence are the common criteria. Nursing students should check accreditation from Higher Education Commission (HEC) prior to admission in MSN program.

Master of Science in Nursing prepare nurses to take on leadership roles in areas of nursing education, nursing administration, nursing research and clinical practice which may achieve by enabling Master of Science in Nursing students to work with individuals, families and communities with the help of existing theories and research findings by which nursing students develop innovative and practical solutions for complex health care problems.

 

MASTER OF SCIENCE IN NURSING

(Fast Track MSN) FOR SENIOR NURSING PROFESSIONALS (1 year)

As in the nursing faculty shortage crisis, Pakistan nursing council is designed to meet the identified critical needs to fulfill the gap of qualified and competent nursing faculty in the country. They are expected to be competent as clinicians, educators, and managers. For preparing the nursing faculty for these roles, nurses need to engage in higher professional education. The Masters of Science in nursing programme is a special 15 months MSN program (including Enrichment programme of 03 months) for senior nursing professionals, which is structured to apply the theoretical knowledge to evidence based practice.

Scope of Nursing studies are very vast and widely dependent on the nursing programs, years of studies, credit hours, curriculum and level of knowledge the nursing program delivered to a student nurse.

What is Nursing Graduation ? | POST RN BSN Nursing Resources