About Us

St. Lawrence, School of Nursing and Midwifery is an integral part of Villa Maria Hospital. The school has developed a national reputation for offering quality education programmes and undertaking innovative move in evidence-based nursing client/patient care that is shaping the health care agenda in Uganda.

It started with a group of 17 girls who were admitted to embark on a Nurse Aid Programme in September 1982. Two years later, 26 students who had completed their O’ Level studies were registered for the Enrolled Nursing Training as a diocesan mission of training health workers for Masaka health units and beyond. The school has produced a total of 711 graduates since its inception. Today St. Lawrence, School of Nursing and Midwifery is under the guidance of both the Uganda Nursing Council and Uganda Nursing and Midwifery Examination Board (UNMEB).

Mission

To train Nurses and midwives of hign morals and proffessional standards by imitating Jesus Christ in healing Ministry

St. Lawrence aims to train an optimal range of health workers of high moral and professional standard for private not for profit (PNFP) health units and national health care institutions who will imitate Christ in the healing Ministry. It also aims to be known locally and nationally as an exciting place to study and work.

In order to be accountable to the legal owners and external stakeholders the school management follows the stipulation of this mission by:

focusing on practical results by Strongly supporting the principle of equal access, and encouragement of students and staff to achieve their full potential within an open and liberal facilitative environment.

Increasing the number of health-workers from minority groups and in underserved areas. Enabling the mother hospital and diocesan health units to increase in the numbers of qualified nurses and midwives.

Promoting the school philosophy which guides us to take the patient/client as the primary focus of the student nurses and midwives. Seeking to make a major contribution to evidence-based and high quality health care by seasoning the mission with the four fundamental aims of Nursing/Midwifery: Promoting wellness
Preventing illness
Restoring health
Facilitating coping

Promoting Wellness St. Lawrence teaches students to promote clients’ wellness by encouraging and providing periodic physical examination through the use of Nursing Diagnosis.
Students are taught to conducts health talks both in the heath units and in the communities. Students are educated to promote environmental and occupational safety etc. Restoration of Health
This principle is taught in what we call Nursing Theory and Practice: Students daily carry out procedures of taking patients’ vital observations: blood pressure, temperature, pulse etc,
Administering prescribed medications to patients.
Referring abnormal findings to higher authorities etc
Facilitating Coping
With the knowledge they gain from Palliative Care, our students can promote, maintain or restore health by helping both the family and the client to cope with altered functions and death.
These students are taught to provide care to both patients and families during terminal illnesses.

Vision

To equip private and public health facilities with nurses and midwives of hign morals and proffessional standards

Our vision is to equip PNFP and national health institutions with nurses and midwives of high morals and professional standard. Nursing and midwifery practice are rooted in compassion, with such vision the school endeavours to draw from the extensive knowledge and care experiences laid down in the curriculum to provide the nation with qualified nurses and midwives of the highest quality. Therefore the two curricula help the teaching staff to creatively design health related programmes and services that will ensure quality through advocacy, policy-making, service management, education and case studies.

MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS OF THE HISTORY OF NURSING

Nursing has never existed in isolation. From time memorial, the role of the nurse has been defined by the groups and social structure in which people were living. Health care- and Nursing- as we know it today is influenced by what happened in the past.
In primitive cultures, including Uganda, human beings believed that illness had supernatural causes. During this time the roles of the physician and the nurse were separate and distinct. The medicine man was a male who “treated” disease through chanting, fear or, in desperation, opening the skull to let out the evil spirits. The nurse was usually the mother who cared for her family when they were sick by providing physical care and herbal remedies. This nurturing or caring role remained constant.
With the beginning of Christianity, Nursing began to have a formal and more clearly define role. Led by the belief that love and caring for others were important, the first organised visiting of the sick was done by women called deaconesses, while male religious orders gave nursing care and buried the dead.
Florence Nightingale was born in 1820 to a wealthy family. She grew up in England and was well educated; she travelled extensively. Despite her nobility, and the opposition from her family, Florence trained as a nurse at the age of 31. During the Crimean War Miss Nightingale was requested by the British to organise nursing care for the injured soldiers. After the war when she returned to England, Nightingale established a nursing training to train nurses who were the in-charge of personal health of other people by putting the patients or ill persons in the beast condition for nature to act upon her/him in order to bring about healing.

In Uganda, Nursing and Midwifery began with the coming of Missionaries: in 1897 Dr. Albert Cook was assisted by Katherine Timpson, who later became Mrs. Cook, to establish a small dispensary at Namirembe and later started a training school for general nursing in 1921 at Mengo. While at Lubaga the White Sisters began training girls on job to do assist them in the care of patients of sleeping sickness as early as 1899 and the Franciscans Sisters of Mother Kevin at Nsambya hospital began training of enrolled midwives in 1919…. St. Lawrence School of Nursing and Midwifery as explained earlier on embarked on the diocesan mission of training health workers for Masaka health units and beyond in 1984.

Gallery

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Team

Sr. Carol Nabasinga

Principle Tutor

Entry Reqiurements

We take both male and female students with minimum qualifications of atleast a pass in physics, Biology, Chemistry, English and Mathmatics. A level is an added advantage.

Certificate Courses

  • A letter of recomandation from your former Headteacher.
  • Babtism Card
  • Passlip of Testimonial from the former O And A level School
  • Any Other Certificates

Contact

St. Lawrence is located 7 kms from Nyendo Masaka Town, along Ssembabule road.

Location:

Villa Maria Hospital, P.O.BOX 32, Masaka

Call:

+256758046644