Nursing Council to clarify its rules on accreditation of courses

The Nursing Council is rewriting its accreditation handbook for training institutions after the controversy that erupted when it refused to recognise a programme operated by the Hong Kong Institute of Technology.

Clause 9 in the handbook says accreditation can only be given when a course is fully operational. But this led to the current situation in which students were already studying on a course that then failed to obtain accreditation.

The council is expected to clarify the clause so that it will apply only to operational courses that are seeking reaccreditation.

'We will rewrite [Clause 9] and update some other parts as well,' a council spokesman said. But he did not know when the rewritten handbook would be available.

The council initially rejected the institute's three-year associate nursing degree programme in February 2006. It again refused to recognise it this March.

A total of 139 students are studying in the programme. They may be able to continue their studies by applying for the Hospital Authority's bridging courses.