‘Many nurses complain about inadequate nursing standards while working tirelessly to support patients’.
Doctors and nurses were instrumental in saving many lives during the pandemic. Nurses were in limited supply all throughout the world; yet, as the situation improves, the scarcity persists. Several nurses in India have complained about inadequate nursing standards in the country while working tirelessly to promote health and provide unwavering care and support to patients.
The Sunday Guardian spoke to Anita Panwar, the president of All India Government Nursing Federation (AIGNF), and received a document, dated 10 May 2022, written to the Joint Secretary (Nursing) of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, stating a reminder for the monthly meeting with AIGNF to safeguard the rights of the nurses. However, G.K. Khurana, the General Secretary of AIGNF, told this correspondent, “We have been writing to the ministry to improvise the standards, but till now we have not received any proper response.”
The letter seeks the early redressal of 33 issues, including Filling of Nursing Adviser and other posts of Nursing in MOHFW, Long Pending Promotions, No learn and earn scheme in Nursing Education, Cadre restructuring and Nursing Reforms, No Outsourcing Involvement of stakeholders in nursing workforce management, enhancement of stipend for student nurses, the issue of the pay scale, Allowance and nomenclature of Punjab nurses and so on.
Speaking of the standard issues faced by the hospitals, Capt Harjeet Pannu, the Nursing Director of PRSI hospital, New Delhi, told this paper, “Earlier, there were several recognised institutes with world-class training and standards; now the privatisation has led to the drop in the standard of nursing studies. For the last two years, most of the teaching has been conducted online so it was not fruitful compared to the first-hand training sessions. In many cases, we have witnessed that the nurses from government institutes are better than the private institutes. As a result, we have to give them a certain amount of training.”
Also, due to the shortage of staff nurses are required to work overtime, and altogether, they work 198 hours a month. Speaking of the details, Sonia Anil, the nursing superintendent of Asian Hospital Faridabad, told this paper, “We work approximately 198 hours a month which includes morning, evening and night shifts along with six days off duty per month. The working hour is the same in both sectors (private and government) and it is regulated as per labour law and nursing council policies. When we work overtime, we get extra pay too.”
Several nurses in India are forced to leave their homeland to get provide better support for their families and pay off education loans. Capt Pannu added, “Many competent nurses leave abroad as the opportunities are much brighter in terms of finances. In India, nurses get minimal pay, depending on the private and the government hospitals.”
On the other hand, a research paper titled, International Nurse Recruitment in India, states that many states and UT like Bangalore, Kochi, and New Delhi recruit and train Indian nurses for foreign nurse examinations. This leaves a void in the healthcare system as the lack of competent nurses make only the mediocre stay behind, leading to pressure on the hospital management to train them accordingly. As per sources, the demand for Indian nurses is higher in the US; a registered nurse’s income is much more than the national average. The average salary is Rs 50,23,000 per year. The lowest-paid nurse makes roughly Rs 33,49,000 per year, while the top 10% make over Rs 69,96,000. Nurses working overseas have substantially better compensation, pay packages, and privileges. The impact of foreign exchange rates is important. Qualified nurses are in limited supply in the countries such as Canada, the United States, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia. The number of nurse graduates in these countries is significantly fewer than the actual demand for nurses. Also, healthcare in these developed countries is a major business. In order to overcome the demand-supply gap in the case of qualified nurses, they have opened doors for skilled nurses from countries such as India.