A tailor-made bridging programme for Institute of Technology Associate Degree in Nursing students to pursue alternative training in obtaining a professional qualification has been endorsed by the Nursing Council.

The Hospital Authority's Cluster Services Director Dr Cheung Wai-lun said the prime consideration in designing the bridging programme is the education standard and quality of current authority training programmes should not be compromised.

The authority will consider the students' eligibility for the programme according to their academic qualification and results. The bridging programme will make up the apparent discrepancies in the Institute of Technology's programme to the authority's nursing training programmes so students will be eligible for a professional nursing qualification.

The bridging programme will open to applications in May and classes are scheduled to begin in October. The institute's existing nursing students can apply for the bridging programme if they meet the academic qualifications required for the higher diploma or enrolled nurse programme of the authority's nursing schools. Students who do not meet the entry requirement need to make up the entry requirement deficiency in 12 months' time.

The authority will arrange the first, second and third-year students who will meet the entry requirement and pass the admission assessment to convert to the corresponding year of the higher diploma or enrolled nurse bridging programme.