The new “Family Nursing” professional master is now being provided in Albania by the Faculty of Medical Technical Sciences, supported by the “Health for All” Project. 14 students have been selected to attend the program in the academic year 2021-2022. They will obtain the Professional Master’s degree in “Family Nursing” and the specialized qualification of a Family Nurse upon successfully completing the program.
The professional master’s in family nursing has been developed to complete the new family nurse profile, as a necessity in response to the growing need for qualified home-care services, the treatment of chronic non-communicable diseases and the aging trend in the population. The program curriculum was developed with the expertise of technical medical science education institutions from Basel, Switzerland and is based on the integration of theory and practice, with an added focus on practice. The students gain a multitude of practical skills developed in the new clinical practice simulation laboratory of the FMTS and in professional internships in the Health Centers with which the Faculty has signed cooperation agreements.
A special aspect of the master’s program is the inclusion of elements related to the gender perspective in the subject syllabi. The academic staff responsible for delivering the master was trained in regard to gender and health and each lecturer was provided with individual consultation.
HAP has provided the following support for establishment of the master:
- The teaching infrastructure was improved as result of construction of the clinical practice simulation laboratory at FMTS, which aims at better training students from a practical perspective.
- Technical expertise was provided to the multidisciplinary working group developing the curriculum. The working group was composed of representatives of MoHSP, MUoT, FMTS, the Order of Physicians, the Order of Nurses, and Primary Health Care service providers and was supported by international and local experts.
- Capacity development of lecturers charged with the teaching, by providing them reference literature and training delivered by national and international experts.
- Provision of learning materials free of charge for students, prior to starting each module.
- Improvement of the primary health care center capacities where the professional internships for students are to be organized. The internship supervisors and nursing teams at the HC that will guide the teaching internships in family nursing were trained how to coach students on practical skills.
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