Pediatric Baccalaureate Nursing Curriculum in Pakistan: Strengths, Limitations and Recommendations

Pakistan is a developing country that has been struggling with rising child mortality and morbidity rates since many decades which indicates that this country needs trained Pediatric nurses to promote child health. From an educationist perspective, a pressing need was viewed to appraise whether the existing Pediatric Health Nursing curriculum is coherent with the health needs of the Pakistani pediatric population. Therefore, considering the regional and international trends, the existing Pediatric Health Nursing curriculum of the Higher Education Commission (HEC)/Pakistan Nursing Council (PNC) was reviewed and analyzed. The review of the Pediatric Health Nursing curriculum revealed that all of its components are in alignment with the HEC/PNC objectives, and it gives coverage to the four main , including "integration of knowledge derived from humanities and science", "effective communication", "health promotion", and "nursing process". The analysis also showed that the course can be further improved by involving students in lab based simulation exercises, adding practice sessions for communication, utilizing community sites for students' clinical practice, and offering sessions on Pediatric medications and drug dosage calculation.