Recognition of professional qualifications for general care nurses

In the area of Negotiating Chapter 3, the PLAC III project has provided support to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development in further aligning the legislative framework for general care nurses with the Union acquis.

According to the European Commission’ report, the Serbian Law on Regulated Professions and the Recognition of Professional Qualifications, adopted in September 2019, is assessed as “largely aligned with the Union acquis”; nevertheless, “further alignment is needed on the relevant sectoral legislation”.

In 2020 the PLAC III project provided an analysis of curricula for the general care nurses and the draft curricula in compliance with Art. 31 and Annex V of the Directive. However, the analysis indicated that the description of the competences required for general care nurses under the applicable qualification standard based on the Law on the National Framework of Qualifications NFQ does not comply with the minimum requirements of the Directive.

The project has now provided the assistance to the line Ministry in assessing the current legislation and revising the description of the competencies required for general care nurses according to the qualification standard and preparing the necessary legal documents and acts in order to achieve full compliance with the requirements of Article 31 and Annex V of the Directive, which relate on the minimum training requirement and training programme.

In the Article 31.3 for nurses responsible for general care the Directive stipulates that a common minimum training requirements curriculum must be met in order for the qualification to be automatically recognised in an EU Member State. The training must comprise of at least three years of study, which may be expressed with the equivalent ECTS credits, and shall consist of at least 4,600 hours of theoretical and clinical training. The duration of the theoretical training must represent at least one-third, and the duration of the clinical training at least one-half of the minimum duration of the training. Training must be given on a full-time basis, and shall include at least the programme described in Annex V. The admission to the training is contingent upon either completion of general education of 12 years or completion of general education of at least 10 years attested by a diploma, certificate or other evidence issued by the competent authorities or bodies in a Member State.

At a workshop held in Belgrade on 6 February 2024, project expert Anita Prelec presented the experience of three EU member states – Slovenia, Slovakia and Croatia – in the process of alignment with the Directive provisions for general care nurses. Among other things, she said that Nursing in the European Union is a legally regulated profession, and in the Republic of Croatia it became so after the adoption of the Law on Nursing in 2003. In Slovenia, adjustment was made gradually according to years of experience.

Prelec presented the results of the analysis of the non-compliance of the national legal framework and practice in comparison with the requirements of the Directive, which was prepared together with Zvonko Dimoski, head of the Department for Professional Nurses, Midwives and Educators at the High School of Health in Belgrade and expert Vladimir Čakarević. The analysis showed that the preparation of qualification standards for medical nurses (from the 3rd to the 7th level according to the National Qualifications Framework), the harmonisation of the title and the definition of the competencies of the nurse in accordance with the Directive, as well as a mandatory internship, are needed. It is also necessary that in the education process at least 50 percent of the hours must be clinical practice with the patient. As possible options for Serbia, general health care studies lasting three or four years, with at least 4,600 hours of training and an internship, are recommended.

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