AFNS (Armed Forces Nursing Service, deals with the female nursing staff of Pakistan Army.

The male nursing assistants are not “staff nurse” like female nursing staff, and come under regular Army Medical Corps badge and banner, instead of AFNS.

In this post, we’ll try to answer any query that people usually have about AFNS, how to join them, what is their service life like, perks and privileges, etc. If you have any more queries you can ask them in the comments section below.

When was Pakistan Army Armed Force Nursing Service started?

AFNS formally began on 10th May, 1951.

What is the duty of AFNS

AFNS serve as nurses in military hospital, just like normal nurses in any hospital.

They are not posted to any units or combat setups.

Do AFNS get a permanent job?

Yes. AFNS is a permanent job cadre of Pakistan Army. They get regular permanent job and pension after retirement at the end of service.

Are AFNS posted on station of choice only?

No. AFNS, like all other army personnel, do get posted to various stations.

Note that they are posted at the station of their choice primarily. However under some circumstances they might get posted to stations which are not their primary choice.

Are AFNS nurses Commissioned Officers?

Yes, AFNS is a commissioned service. The personnel in AFNS are commissioned officers.

Are Nurses Pakistan Commissioned Officers (PCOs)?

No. AFNS officers are not Pakistan Commissioned Officers (bps 17 and above, such as regular officers who passout from PMA).

Are AFNS authorised to use Officer’s perks & facilities?

No. AFNS nurses are not considered Pakistan Commissioned officers and thus they are not allowed to use any facility dedicated to regular military officers. This includes the following things which they can not use or be part of:

  1. Officer Mess (AFNS use their own AFNS mess)
  2. Officer’s BOQ or MOQ (AFNS get their houses in their own allocated quota of houses, not in the officers list)
  3. Officer’s gatherings
  4. Officer’s parades
  5. Officer’s study periods
  6. Officer’s courses

Is pay scale of AFNS same as Officers?

No. AFNS nurses have a lower pay scale than the officers (PCO). Even if a nurse is wearing ranks of Captain, she is not equal to BPS-17 (of regular army captain officer) and thus gets paid less than them.

Is the Uniform of AFNS same as Lady Officers?

No. The (PCO) lady officers wear the military Sarhi type uniform. While AFNS wear a shalwar kameez type uniform.

The uniform of Nurses was white coloured in the past. It was changed to brown military colour shalwar kameez in past years.

Are AFNS trained with Officer Cadets in same Academy?

No. AFNS are not trained with officer cadets. They are not trained in same academy too.

AFNS are trained in their own setup and have different training than that of officer cadets of Pakistan Army.

pakistan army nursing service afns

Can AFNS keep an unlicensed personal weapon like Officers?

No. Only regular commissioned officers (PCO) are allowed to keep 2 unlicensed pistols with them. Nurses are not considered regular commissioned officers and thus can’t have them.

Is Nursing Major Senior to Commissioned Captain Officer?

No. Seniority is based on BPS scale. As nurses do not start in officer scale (bps-17), they are junior to the officers of same rank.

Are Nurses considered Officer in Pakistan Army?

No. Nurses are not considered Pakistan Commissioned officers in Pakistan Army. They are considered Nursing officer, just like a subedar is considered a junior commissioned officer (JCO), or a havaldar is considered a non-commissioned officer (NCO). They are respected in their own profession and service they have, but they are not considered part of the proper officer cadre.

Why Nurses have officer ranks if they are not officers?

General Zia gave them the ranks equivalent to the officers in his tenure due to personal reasons. However they never got the same pay scale, perks, privileges, authorities, duties and respect as of officers.

In fact it created more of a confusion for both nurses and other military people dealing with them.

Are male nurses also given same ranks?

No, the male counterparts of AFNS get the rank of sepoy.

Eligibility Criteria for AFNS

Eligibility criteria for Pakistan Army Armed Forces Nursing Service is as follows.

AFNS General Nursing Eligibility Criteria

Note that these criteria are for General Nursing. Candidates who are trained nurses already have different criteria.

Gender: Female

Age: 17-25

Qualification:

  • Matric (science): 60% marks (minimum)
  • FSc (pre-medical): 50% marks (minimum)

Candidates having 50% marks in 1st year can apply with hope certificate, duly signed by the principal.

Marital Status:

  • Unmarried
  • Widowed
  • Separated
  • Divorced

Trained nurses can be both married or unmarried.

Nationality:

  • Citizen of Pakistan
  • Kashmir domicile holder
  • Gilgit-baltistan domicile holder

People with dual nationality can apply. But they will have to surrender their nationality other than Pakistani upon successful selection.

Physical standards required

Height: 5 feet [5′ (152cm)]

Weight: As per BMI (body mass index)

Ineligibility conditions for joining AFNS

These conditions make the person in-eligible to apply for Pakistan Army AFNS.

  1. A person who has been rejected twice by the GHQ selection board in the past.
  2. A person who has been declared medically unfit by the medical appeal board in the past.
  3. Any person who’ve been withdrawn, resigned or discharged from any Armed Forces in the past (Army, Navy, Air force) from their training academies or institutions on the basis of any issue related to character, discipline, medical inefficiency, weak profile or otherwise declared unsuitable.
  4. Any person who’ve been removed or dismissed from any other government service is also ineligible to apply.
  5. Any person who’ve been convicted by the court of law for any moral turpitude related offence.

Note: the aim of this page is to provide information about the AFNS job. If you find any error or mistake in the content, please let us know with authentic reference & we will modify / correct it. Thank you