Applications have been invited for admission to the Post Basic Diploma Courses in Specialty Nursing-2025 in Kerala, being offered in Nursing Colleges under the Directorate of Medical Education, Kerala.

The program of 12 months’ duration aims at improving the efficiency of nursing officers working in specialty departments and updating their knowledge and skills so as to provide cost-effective quality care to patients in specialty areas in the present era of scientific & technological advancement, specialisation and super specialisation.

The annual tuition fee is Rs 11,580/-. Other fees include (i) Miscellaneous Fee Rs 1160/-, (ii) Van fee Rs 2320/- and (iii) Caution Deposit Rs 2320/- (one-time refundable). Admitted candidates will be eligible for a stipend of Rs.7000/- per month.

The course is being offered at Govt. Colleges of Nursing at Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur. The specialities in which the program is offered are (i) Cardiothoracic Nursing, (ii) Critical Care Nursing, (iii) Emergency and Disaster Nursing, (iv) Neonatal Nursing and (v) Nurse Practitioner in Midwifery. Cardiothoracic Nursing is offered at Kannur (15 seats), and all the others are at Thiruvananthapuram (10 seats each). All specialities have general merit seats as well as service quota seats (DME, DIHS and IMS Quota). Of the total of 55 seats, 36 are general merit seats and 19 are service quota seats. The distribution of seats in the two colleges, 5 specialities and 2 quotas (general and service quota) is given in the prospectus at https://lbscentre.in/. Details of available reservations are also given in the prospectus.

Admissions to the courses are regulated based on merit as assessed by their marks in the entrance examination and skill test. The selection of candidates under the service quota will be strictly based on their eligibility and seniority as of the last date for submission of the application form.

Nativity: Only Indian citizens of Kerala origin are eligible for admission. Those who have been residents of Kerala for at least 5 years will also be treated at par with candidates of Kerala origin for the limited purpose of admissions.

Applicant should have passed the +2 or equivalent examination with physics, chemistry and biology as optional subjects. They should have also passed a basic qualifying course such as the General Nursing and Midwifery Course / B.Sc. Nursing Degree (Regular Course) / Post Basic B.Sc. Nursing (Regular Course) from an institution recognised by the Indian Nursing Council and concerned State Nursing Councils with a minimum of 50% marks in aggregate. No rounding off of the percentage of marks to the nearest whole number is permitted.

The applicant should have obtained registration from the Kerala Nurses and Midwives Council or any state nursing council if studied outside Kerala. Selected candidates should produce their registration certificate obtained from the Kerala Nurses and Midwives Council in original at the time of admission.

Age: The upper age limit for General Merit candidates will be 45 years and for Service candidates 49 years as of the date of notification of application.

Candidates should have acquired the eligibility conditions on or before the last date for submission of application.

Selection will be based on an entrance examination and skill test. The date and time of the OMR sheet-based entrance examination will be notified by the LBS Centre in due course. All candidates, including service candidates, have to appear for the entrance examination. It will have one paper of 90 minutes’ duration and will consist of 100 objective-type multiple-choice questions, each carrying 3 marks, with a maximum of 300 marks. The examination shall be of the standard of the Basic Nursing Programme and will contain questions on all the subjects covered in the syllabus of the Indian Nursing Council. Details of the test are given in the prospectus. Each correct response will be awarded three marks. There will be no negative marks. Those securing 40% marks (120 out of 300) in the entrance examination [35% marks (105 out of 300) for SC/ST categories] will qualify for the skill test. Service candidates need to score a minimum of 40% marks (120 out of 300) to qualify in the entrance examination. Those qualifying for the skill test will be considered for ranking. However, the candidates will not be given any separate/additional weightage for the skill test (except for resolution of tie for all candidates).

Applications can be submitted online at www.lbscentre.in latest by September 8, 2025.The application fee is Rs. 1000/- (Rs.500/- for SC / ST candidates) to be paid online or at a branch of Federal Bank using the challan that can be generated online while submitting the application. The procedure for fee remittance and the application process for service candidates are given in the prospectus.

LBS Centre for Science and Technology will publish the rank list of candidates, based on their marks in the Entrance Examination. After the skill test, the final rank list will be published. There will be a separate list for service candidates of DME/DHS/IMS who have qualified in the entrance examination.

The centralized allotment process for all seats will be through a Single Window System (SWS). The registration of college options can be done only after publication of the rank list. The allotment to various colleges/courses will be done by the Director, LBS Centre, under the supervision of the Director of Medical Education, based on the options exercised by the candidate, the rank lists prepared, the eligible reservation(s) of the candidate and the availability of seats.