With large number of nurses’ migration affecting country’s health system, President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday called upon the States and Centre to jointly work for capacity building in the sector to improve nurse to population ratio.
“It is, nevertheless necessary to be conscious that while most countries have a shortage of nurses, the situation continues to be quite acute in India, primarily due to the migration of the large number of nurses we produce from our institutions.
“India’s low nurse to population ratio reminds us that much more capacity needs to be built with closer co-between States and the Central Government,” said Mukherjee after presenting National Florence Nightingale Awards to 35 nursing personnel from across the country here on the occasion of the International Nurses Day.
He appreciated the Government’s move in addressing these concerns to strengthen the nursing sector and that there has been a positive rate of growth in our training capacity over the past decade.
The President felt that the complexity of medical and healthcare practices demands that nurses are fully involved in the planning, implementation, research and evaluation, that goes into the successful delivery of patient care.
He also said the legal and policy framework of nursing protocols and standards of practice must facilitate optimal utilsation of competencies and complimented the improving quality of nursing services which has ensured increasing life expectancy and reducing child and maternal mortality in both urban as well as rural India.
The President called upon nurse educators to inculcate ‘if not surpass’ the world’s best, professional, nursing and midwifery educational
standards.
later, talking to The Pioneer, Col Binu Sharma, President, Infusion Nurses Society, spoke about the occupational hazards faced by the nurses as they are exposed to very high risk environment in the hospitals, pertaining to various infections and communicable diseases.
“Thus, nurses should be given the proper training and skills and should follow safety guidelines to ensure optimum quality of patient care” he added.
Col Sharma said that a first of its kind initiative in the country, ICF (Infection Control Forum) has been formed to address an emerging need of hospitals and nursing homes. He also pointed out that various studies show that there is a correlation between nurses’ education and training and better patient outcomes.