“Never in the history of the nursing profession has there been such an opportunity for nurses to play a key role in transforming health care and improving health. Registered nurses and midwives alone constitute approximately 50 percent of the global health care workforce—the largest portion among all health care workers. These nurses provide care to individuals, families, and communities in virtually all locations in which health care is delivered including hospitals, long-term care facilities, ambulatory care settings, homes, schools, and industry. As nurses, nurse leaders, nurse managers ,public health nurses ,nurses in various clinical specialties and nurse researchers, we are constantly challenged to find innovative and effective ways to provide seamless, affordable, and safe quality care that will produce improved health outcomes. Our profession carries the enormous responsibility of leading reform in health and health care systems, improving health outcomes of patients and their families, and generating and translating knowledge that improves nursing education, nursing leadership, and nursing practice.
The Faculty of Nursing is committed to meet those challenges and address the critical health needs of our population by preparing nurses who have a broad understanding of the profession, patient centered car, evidence-based practice ,public policy, leadership, and health care systems.
It is a great time to consider starting or advancing your career in nursing. According to the WHO statistics, registered nurses are one of the top occupations in terms of job growth through 2030. Nearly 13 million more positions for nurses are expected to fill the demand of nurses by the year 2030. And opportunities continue to flourish for nurse leaders, nurse educators and nurse scientists and various nursing specialties especially nurses in neuro-care and palliative care.. I invite you to learn more about becoming a competent nurse with the skills expected of 21st century nurses.
Whether you are a prospective student, a current student, or an alumnus , please take time to browse the website to learn about our remarkable programs and the achievements of students, faculty members . The overriding strength of our educational programs, research opportunities, and international projects lies in the talented and dedicated faculty members and researchers at the faculty of of Nursing. “
About Dean
Prof. Sudath Shirley Pathmasiri Warnakulasuriya is the Professor in Nursing and Dean of the Faculty of Nursing of the University of Colombo. He entered the nursing profession in 1987. He holds a BSc with second class upper division Honours in Nursing from the Open University of Sri Lanka, a Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Adelaide in Australia, and a PhD from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura.
Professor Warnakulasuriya holds several firsts in the field of nursing. He is the first Sri Lankan nursing professional to hold a PhD from a Sri Lankan University. He is the first Sri Lankan Nursing Professional to have been appointed a professor on merit. He is also the first Sri Lankan nursing professional to have been elected a Dean in a Faculty. Ever since he has been able to achieve the highest educational qualification and highest academic position in Sri Lanka within his 34-year service.
After spearheading the first BSc Nursing program in Sri Lanka at the Faculty of Medical Sciences, the University of Sri Jayewardenepura for 12 years, he joined the Faculty of Nursing, University of Colombo in 2018 where he played a pivotal role in the committee for establishing the first-ever Faculty of Nursing in Sri Lanka representing the Nursing profession at ministry level, university level and professional organization level .
His academic life prior to joining the University of Colombo included service in the National Institute of Health and Social Sciences(NIHSS) in the Republic of Seychelles from 2003 to 2005 , in the Faculty of Medical Sciences in the university of Sri Jayewardenepura for 12 years and Ministry of health for 17 years.
Prof. Warnakulasuriya’s research interests mainly lie in the area of occupational health and work ergonomics which has led to a multitude of research discoveries and subsequent scientific publications in many peer-reviewed, high-impact scientific journals. Besides, he pioneered in better understanding of the mechanisms of low back pain and musculoskeletal disorders among different occupational groups including nursing. He has been recognized as a leading scientific researcher in the nation when he was awarded the “Presidential Award for Scientific Publications” by the National Research Council on three occasions (2013,2014 and 2017). He has received 16 awards including research awards and professional awards for his contribution to nursing profession from professional associations including the prestigious “Florence Nightingale Lifetime Award” awarded by the Sri Lanka Nursing Association(SLNA). He has a h-index of 10 and his work has been cited more than 850 times. He has made two orations and more than 70 invited speeches in national and international forums .
In addition, he had served as the President of the Graduate Nurses Foundation (GNF) and Sri Lanka Nurses Association (SLNA) as an executive committee member for many years, Council member of Organization of professional associations(OPA) and currently serves as the President of Sri Lanka Nurses Association. He represents the higher education sector in the Sri Lanka Nursing Council (SLNC). He is the member of two scientific steering committees established by the International Council of Nurses (ICN), Geneva, Switzerland.
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Prof. SSP Warnakulasuriya
Professor (Dean of the Faculty)
RN, RMN, Dip in Teaching and Supervision, BScN (Hons.) (OUSL) , PGDCP (Colombo), MNSc (Adelaide-Australia), PhD (USJP)
