Nurses fly out to greener pastures, Karnataka hospitals battle staff crunch
Sreemoyee Chatterjee| TNN | May 23, 2016, 06.04 AM IST
Bengaluru: Ten nurses and hundreds of patients a day . The 120bed ESI Hospital in Indiranagar, which is flooded with people suffering from rabies, tetanus, measles and chickenpox through the year, is battling severe staff shortage. With all senior staff nurse posts lying vacant for years, things go for a toss during rainy season when dengue and chikungunya cases go up. The situation is no better in other government and private hospitals in the state.
This year, the health and family welfare department of Karnataka has recorded 2,118 vacancies of nurses and 1,504 of paramedical staff in government hospitals.So where all the nurses? Most of them are migrating abroad for better pay and work conditions, say experts.
"We are struggling to manage the hospital given the inadequate staff. Things go out of control during peak seasons, but we somehow take care of patients. The health department has asked us to outsource nurses, but that requires a lot of time and money.The existing nurses may be skilled, but seniors are a must to tackle patients with severe infection," an employee of the ESI Hospital said.
According to Dr Upendra Bojhani, assistant director at the Institute of Public Health (IPH), Bengaluru, India remains a major source of qualified nurse practitioners to many countries. "While better pay is a driving force for nurses leaving the country , there are other factors, including dissatisfaction with the work environment, lack of recognition and respect they deserve in the healthcare system and negative social attitude towards the profession."
Echoing the same, Dr Sudarshan H Ballal, chairman at Manipal Hospitals, said: "Most of them prefer to work in West Asia and the United States, stay there for a few years and come back to India.They do this for financial stability as well as better recognition.Working abroad not only improves their bank balance but also brings good exposure. When they return to India, it's easier for them to get employed in reputed hospitals," he said.
Dr Venkataramana NK, vicechairman and chief neurosurgeon at BGS Global Hospitals, said: "Shortage of nurses is a reality across the country . On the one hand, we are happy that India is supporting global healthcare, allowing them to have better opportunities with better quality of life.But logistically it creates a vacuum in the delivery of care with senior nurses submitting resignations on a daily basis. Management and nursing directors of hospitals face this challenge every day. We have to train more people; hospital onsite training should be a must so that youngsters take over the responsibilities quickly .Though it's difficult to match the salaries they get abroad, every effort should be made to retain them by offering better perks and working conditions," he added.
BETTER CAREER OPTIONS
Once a nurse, always a nurse' is the popular perception.There's a need to ensure career growth for nurses like in the West. "A career path or progression can be mapped for them since once they become nurses they remain so all through their lives. Nurses can be promoted as nurse practitioners, a popular concept in the US. They are like an assistant to the physician and a lot of pharmacies encourage such practitioners. A generally registered nurse who has acquired the knowledge, complex decision-making skills and clinical competencies for expanded practice is the one who can acquire this level," said Dr Sudarshan H Ballal, chairman, Manipal Hospitals.
Nurses must also be given an opportunity in hospital administration. They must be allowed to pursue some additional courses that would qualify them for that position. "I have seen several dentists becoming hospital administrators and nurses too can be given similar opportunities. Apart from that a good pay package is a must," he added
Dr Venkataramana NK, vicechairman and chief neurosurgeon at BGS Global Hospitals, said: "Shortage of nurses is a reality across the country . On the one hand, we are happy that India is supporting global healthcare, allowing them to have better opportunities with better quality of life.But logistically it creates a vacuum in the delivery of care with senior nurses submitting resignations on a daily basis. Management and nursing directors of hospitals face this challenge every day. We have to train more people; hospital onsite training should be a must so that youngsters take over the responsibilities quickly .Though it's difficult to match the salaries they get abroad, every effort should be made to retain them by offering better perks and working conditions," he added.
BETTER CAREER OPTIONS
Once a nurse, always a nurse' is the popular perception.There's a need to ensure career growth for nurses like in the West. "A career path or progression can be mapped for them since once they become nurses they remain so all through their lives. Nurses can be promoted as nurse practitioners, a popular concept in the US. They are like an assistant to the physician and a lot of pharmacies encourage such practitioners. A generally registered nurse who has acquired the knowledge, complex decision-making skills and clinical competencies for expanded practice is the one who can acquire this level," said Dr Sudarshan H Ballal, chairman, Manipal Hospitals.
Nurses must also be given an opportunity in hospital administration. They must be allowed to pursue some additional courses that would qualify them for that position. "I have seen several dentists becoming hospital administrators and nurses too can be given similar opportunities. Apart from that a good pay package is a must," he added
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