Attapeu Nursing School

Why this project ?

Attapeu is the southernmost province of Laos. Many of its health facilities serve remote and poor communities. Due to a continued shortage of well-qualified nursing staff, nurse training remains a key priority for the community, the province’s Public Health Department, and the Ministry of Health.

From 2021-2024, SFE supported Attapeu vocational training centre with the objective to ensure access to quality nurse education.  During that time, Lao basic nurse training evolved from a 2 to a 3-year higher diploma nursing course and the training centre was required to become a fully fletched nursing school.  This goal was achieved in 2024 with the inauguration of the Attapeu Public Health School.  

Starting a direct 3-year higher diploma nursing course, training approximately 30 students a year, plus continuing to upskill middle to higher diploma nurses, are now the nursing school’s key priorities. In project phase II from 2024-27, SFE continues to support the school to provide quality nurse education in line with national standards.  Training activities to improve teaching and administrative quality will be facilitated, including nurturing closer working relationships with partner health facilities in which students undertake their clinical internships.

Successful nurse training includes both nursing school and health facilities such as hospitals and health centres, where students undertake their internship placements. SFE will help provide further training and equip clinical teachers, enabling them to fulfil the training requirements and remain upskilled. Furthermore, improved information sharing between internship placements and the nursing school will be encouraged to create more conducive and streamlined working relationships.

Outcomes

• Improve the theoretical and demonstration skills of teachers and students.
• Increase the quality of the internship placements for students in partner health facilities.
• For students’ learning environment and lifeskills to be improved.
• Improve the administrative and management units of the school.

Activities

• Theory and clinical teachers will attend a national andragogy teaching program (how to educate adults). Teachers’ subject knowledge and demonstration skills teaching will also be strengthened by attending targeted training.
  
• Material to enhance the internship placement experiences for students will be provided for partner health facilities and clinical teachers. Theory and clinical teachers’ communication meetings in preparation for and after internship placements will be facilitated.
  
• Infrastructure will be improved, such as the building of more classrooms, to allow for improved learning conditions. Students will be offered additional training to help them effectively deal with the demands and challenges of everyday life. Scholarships continue to be offered to the most impoverished students to help towards the cost of their nurse education.
  
• To aid the school in achieving and sustaining required governmental quality assurance scores, further training for all school staff will be provided to include monitoring and evaluation, IT skills etc. Human resources will be strengthened by further development of individuals both in school and partner health facilities.

Beneficiaries

• Approximately 65 theory and clinical teachers and administrative staff
• Approximately 100 students

Budget

USD 593 951

Local partners

• Attapeu Public Health School
• Government – at local and national level
• Provincial, district hospitals and partner health centres

Empowerment and sustainability

The project’s phase II is in response to identified needs by stakeholders (including Provincial Health Department and Ministry of Health) to further strengthen the school and partner training facilities to enable the provision of quality nurse education in future years.