| Azaraimy HH |
MARKING a remarkable day for the future of palliative care in the country, the Pantai Jerudong Specialist Centre (PJSC) yesterday launched a dual course for Diploma in Palliative Nursing Care and NTec in Caregiver (Level 3).
Twenty-one students will undergo this intensive one-year programme as the first intake.
In his opening remarks as the guest of honour, Minister of Health Dato Paduka Dr Haji Mohd Isham bin Jaafar, who is also the Deputy Chairman of PJSC, described the launching event as significant for the future of cancer care in the country.
“We are one step forward in realising an important necessity to provide the best cancer care to the citizens of Brunei Darussalam. This is established by training locals within our very own healthcare institution to train our nurses in palliative cancer care and becoming certified caregivers,” he said.
“Under the initiative of a public-private partnership, both the Institute of Brunei Technical Education (IBTE) and PJSC have devised a curriculum to suit the needs of our healthcare system. This collaboration has now set forth on the trail of education, aside from the mode of cancer treatment, as its main focus.
“At present, we have only one palliative care nurse and no certified caregivers in the country. We hope to reach our target of at least 25 palliative care nurses by year 2021. On this note, PJSC remains positive and committed in educating their doctors, nurses, ancillary workers as well as realising other human resource requirements to support the services of the cancer centre,” the minister added.
Earlier in his welcoming remarks, Dr Mazrul Adimin bin Haji Besar, Executive Director of PJSC, said PJSC has to transform its healthcare delivery, realising the growing needs to provide better cancer care to patients.
“In doing so, the unique concept of this dual course is not only to provide training opportunities for the palliative nursing caregivers but also move beyond the hospital to reach out to the community to bring care closer to patients, in an overall effort to ensure good healthcare for our patients.
“To achieve the care transformation that we envision, we require talented and passionate healthcare nurses and caregivers. The 21-enrolled students will undergo an intensive one-year programme where there will be hands-on guided training in practical skills,” he added.
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