1. General Information
1.1 Background of Nursing
Ethiopia faces a severe health workforce crisis, as recognized by the World Health Organization. The country suffers from an acute shortage of trained health workers, an imbalanced distribution of healthcare professionals between urban and rural areas, and high levels of brain drain. The current ratio of doctors, nurses, and midwives stands at only 0.7 per 1,000 people—far below the minimum threshold of 2.3 per 1,000. Although expanding medical education is essential, increasing graduate numbers alone will not resolve these complex issues. The quality and relevance of training must improve to align with the country’s health priorities and epidemiological profile.
Medical and nursing education institutions in Ethiopia often operate in isolation from the health system, limiting their ability to produce graduates who are well-equipped for real-world practice. Curricula frequently fail to reflect local disease burdens and health system needs, and clinical training typically occurs in urban tertiary hospitals, far removed from the rural communities where professionals are most needed. Nursing, despite being critical for healthcare delivery—especially in remote areas—receives insufficient investment. Faculty shortages and outdated curricula contribute to poor alignment between nursing education and practical demands, resulting in inconsistent skill levels among graduates.
To address these challenges, Debre Berhan University launched a comprehensive nursing program in 2001 EC, producing over 600 nurses to date. The university’s Asrat Woldeyes Health Science Campus currently trains 91 comprehensive nursing students. The nursing education philosophy emphasizes lifelong learning, critical thinking, and adaptability in a dynamic healthcare environment. Its curriculum aims to prepare students not only with clinical competencies but also with the intellectual and ethical foundation to become responsible, productive members of society, capable of responding to evolving health system needs and contributing to broader social transformation.
2. Mission and Vision of Debre Berhan University
2.1 Vision
- Debre Berhan University aspires to be one of nationally leading universities in practice oriented teaching and research by 2030.
2.2 Mission
M1: To prepare knowledgeable, skilled and attitudinally matured graduates for the job market and entrepreneurship by providing practice oriented education.
M2: To enhance and promote applied research focusing on innovation and technology transfer to create sustainable and knowledge based industries and societies.
M3: To establish strategic partners to strengthen practice oriented education research and community engagement
3. Program Educational Objectives
- PEO-1: To produce competent professional nurses who are able to provide culturally sensitive and high quality comprehensive care at all levels of health care system.
- PEO-2: To produce ethically disciplined and technically qualified nurses who are employable in national and international health care industries.
- PEO-3: To produce competent nurses who can be self-employed and can create job opportunities for other nursing graduates.
- PEO-4: To produce nurses who have a potential to be a leader in health care industries, works on researches and community service.
4. Program Educational Outcome (PEO)
- PO-1 Apply the knowledge of biomedical sciences, concepts and models of social and population sciences, disease prevention and health promotion in health care service provision
- PO-2 Identify psychosocial, environmental and behavioral determinants of health
- PO-3 Provide basic holistic care for individuals, families, and communities using the nursing process as a framework
- PO-4 Use critical thinking to analyse and interpret health data collected, by using the functional health pattern (Gordon‘s) /other recent evidence, to establish priorities and make the appropriate decision
- PO-5 Perform basic and advanced nursing procedures, and assist advanced diagnostic and therapeutic procedures using the latest evidence
- PO-6 Perform activities in prevention, control, diagnoses and management of emerging and re-emerging communicable and non-communicable diseases
- PO-7 Provide comprehensive maternal, child health and mental health nursing care services
- PO-8 Apply professional, ethical, and legal standards and codes in nursing practice
- PO-9 Apply informatics and technology for health data management and patient care PO-10 Utilize research and related evidences for patient health care services
- PO-11 Exercise leadership and involve in the management of the health care system
- PO-12 Demonstrates commitment to the continuous personal and professional development and lifelong learning.
5. Career opportunities of the Comprehensive Nursing graduates
- MSc in Adult health Nursing
- MSc in Emergency and critical Care Nursing
- MSc in Maternity and reproductive health Nursing
- MSc in Medical Nursing
- MSc in Surgical Nursing
- MSc in Mental Health Nursing/ Psychiatry
- MSc in Paediatrics and child health Nursing
- MSc in oncologic Nursing
- MSc in neonatal Nursing
- MSc in Clinical Midwifery
- MPH in Nutrition
- MPH in Epidemiology
- MPH in Biostatics
- MPH in Reproductive Health
- MPH in public Health/GMPH
- MPH in environmental health
- MPH in health service management
- Subspecialties/Residency Based
- MSc in Cardiovascular Nursing
- MSc in Nephrology Nursing
- MSc in Preoperative/Cardiothoracic Nursing
- PhD in Nursing
- Phd in Nursing
- Phd in public Health
- Doctor of Nursing
6. Eligibility Criteria
- Must be a natural science student
- Meet the set criteria of the MoE for degree students to join higher learning institution
- Physically and mentally fit for nursing service
- Those who choose to enter the profession
7. Admission criteria of the program
- Based on Ministry of Education HEI admission guideline plus
- Pass Comprehensive Nursing program selection criteria
- Free from disability that hinders Comprehensive Nursing care provision
- Interested to attend Comprehensive Nursing program
- Good success in freshman courses.
8. Teaching and Learning Methods
• Role play
• Case study
• Simulated practice/clinical skills lab/SDL/BSL
• Clinical practicum
• Team training and community based learning
• Laboratory practice
• Whole group session
• CBD (Case based discussion)
• Lecture, Problem Based Learning/PBL
9. Assessment Methods
- Direct observation of clinical skills (DOCS)
- Objective structured clinical examination (OSCE)
- Oral exams
- Written exam /formative, summative/
- Logbook /formative assessment
- Global rating/using multiple source of information /
- Clinical work samplings
10. Promotion requirements
- Required to achieve a passing mark of C (50%) in knowledge based
- C+ (60%) in performance assessments
- Any student scoring below 60% in core modules having hospital or community based clinical practice assessment will repeat the module
- Should score half of the percentage in each modular course.
- A score below half in one modular course will result in repeat of the module
- Failure in one course of the module results in repeating the module.
