Diplomas Recognised

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31676, 11 May 1968, Page 2

Diplomas Recognised

The French BOntotry of Social Affaire has now recognised the diplomas conferred by the National School of Nurses in Niamey, Niger, as being equivalent to the French State Diplomas of Nursing. (Niger to a former territory ot French West Africa and lies north of Nigeria).

The recognition is attributed to the high quality of instruction and practical train-

ing being given to student nurses, says a United Nations news release.

Niger, with a population of 3.2 million, has only one trained nurse for every 7000 inhabitants. Eight students completed their third year oi study last August and after qualifying examinations, 18 second-year students were allowed to enter the third-year classes. The school is affiliated to the Niamey Hospital, the largest and best-equipped in the country. Since the U.N. Development Programme’s aid to the school was started last year, World Health Organise tion experts have been assigned to the school to

strengthen the curricula, conduct courses and train personnel in specialised fields.

Despite the desperate need to graduate nurses as quickly as possible, full-length courses have been maintained. The first two years of study are devoted to basic training, including theory and super vised practical work. In the third year, male students are trained in laboratory work and epidemiology. Women students, on the other hand, take up courses in public health nursing, midwifery, maternity, and child care. Last year a course was organised for third-year students at the Medical Centre, in the interior of Niger.