UHS unveils new nursing curriculum

In a move to elevate nursing education in Punjab, the University of Health Sciences (UHS) launched its new "COMPASS" curriculum for the four-year BS Nursing program during a formal ceremony on Friday.

The event was presided over by the Provincial Minister for Specialised Healthcare & Medical Education, Khawaja Salman Rafique, and Minister for Health and Population, Khawaja Imran Nazir, who jointly unveiled the curriculum on the university’s website.

The COMPASS curriculum—an acronym for Competency-based, Outcome-based, Multicultural, Patient-centered, Assessment, Skills, and Safety—represents a bold departure from traditional instruction, introducing a modern, block-based and spiral model of nursing education.

Under the new structure, students will divide their week equally between classrooms and hospitals—three days each—beginning clinical exposure from the very first year.

Clinical hours have been increased from 35 to 54, while students will now complete 72 rigorously designed courses and master over 200 clinical skills by graduation.

Speaking on the occasion, Khawaja Salman Rafique described COMPASS as “not merely a new curriculum, but a vision for a stronger, more empowered nursing profession.

 He said that 3,000 nurses have been recruited in the current year and that public nursing colleges have added 1,400 new seats by launching evening classes aimed at meeting growing healthcare demands.

Khawaja Imran Nazir lauded the new curriculum as a timely response to global challenges in healthcare, saying, “Our nurses are the frontline heroes of this system.

With COMPASS, we are giving them the skills, ethics, and cultural sensitivity required to perform at international standards.

Vice Chancellor UHS, Prof Dr Ahsan Waheed Rathore, emphasized that the curriculum embodies the vision of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif and marks a revolutionary leap in healthcare education. 

Dr Lamia Yusuf, Assistant Professor at UHS’s Department of Medical Education, presented an academic overview of the COMPASS framework.

She explained that students will be taught in a progressive, spiral format over eight semesters, with increasing complexity in course content.

 Cultural competency, a first in Pakistan’s nursing curricula, will now be embedded into the educational journey of every student nurse in Punjab.

The launch event was attended by Pro Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Nadia Naseem, SIMS Principal Prof Zohra Khanum, Registrar Kiran Fatima, Dr Zahid Pervaiz, Director Nursing Punjab Kausar Parveen, Prof Samina Kausar, and Prof Sumeera Ehsan, among others.