ZAGREB, January 9, 2019 - The Croatian Chamber of Nurses (HKMS) said on Tuesday, following media reports about the buying of nursing certificates in Bosnia and Herzegovina, that it will not issue nursing licenses to applicants who have completed retraining programmes in other countries because it believes that the required level of training for the nursing profession cannot be attained that way.
Retraining programmes are not equal to Croatian programmes for obtaining the qualification of a general care nurse and hence cannot result in the same outcomes of knowledge, skills and competencies. The nursing profession belongs to regulated professions for which minimum education requirements are clearly set out in an EU directive, and learning outcomes must be in line with the European and the Croatian Qualifications Framework, the HKMS said.
"By comparing retraining programmes, we have identified substantial differences in professional qualifications and a considerable shortage of hours of theoretical and clinical instruction," HKMS president Slava Šepec said.
The Croatian education programme does not provide for a retraining programme in the nursing profession and such programmes from other countries are contrary to the Regulated Professions and Recognition of Foreign Professional Qualifications Act and the European Commission's Directive 2005/36.
Only licensed nurses can operate in Croatia, and nursing licenses are issued by the HKMS. The training of general care nurses includes at least 4,600 hours of theoretical and clinical instruction during at least three years of professional training.
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