Declining Trend of Nursing Education

Nursing courses in India touch an all time low owing to reduced employability prospects within the country & abroad.

Despite the severe demand of Nurses in India, the number of students getting admission into the Nursing courses are declining. To the extent that some of the colleges are literally struggling to attract the students because of the limited scope of the course after its completion.

Adding to it the demand is also dwindling overseas. It all started with Barack Obama becoming the President of USA,and stressing on the appointment of American nurses over foreign nurses, especially those coming from India and Philippines. Hence, the job opportunities for Indian nurses decreased in the USA . Not only this but he also started the compulsory training for the nurses under a certified doctor and has taken necessary steps to improve the facilities at Nursing Colleges which further gave a negating blow .

While working in India, a nurse gets around Rs. 5000 to Rs. 8000 rupees as a salary in rural areas and Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 15,000 in urban areas which is too low going by today’s inflation affected society. “Though there is a demand of the nurses in India only for the nurses who are well trained with good practical skills but the lack of facilities during their course are depriving them of getting good jobs,” said Head of Nursing department in a nursing college in Mumbai. “Most of the students who do the nursing courses lack these skills and the exposure to practical knowledge,” she added.

According to the Indian Nursing Council, a nursing college should have its own hospital with 200 beds to impart practical training to students during their course. Dr. K. Ramu, Principal of Shridevi College of Nursing, Tumkur, said, “most of the nursing colleges lack infrastructure including the 200 bedded hospital and good faculty. Hence, the students who finish the course in such colleges fail to get a job due to the lack of practical knowledge.”

Dr. G. Shivaprasad, Director of Sri Siddhartha College of Nursing, Tumkur, also agreed that the students are bound to suffer because of the lack of infrastructure in colleges. Due to a decrease in job opportunities in the Middle East and the USA, the number of students coming from Kerala to Karnataka for nursing courses has decreased by 80 percent.

Countries in the Middle East have reduced the appointment of Indian nurses by around 70 percent due to the lack of practical skills and knowledge of the Indian candidates. As a result, students going to nursing courses have decreased. Dr. Shivaprasad alleged that the state government of Karnataka has appointed only around 300 nurses in the past 15 years though there is a scarcity of nurses in the government hospitals. “Since I come from a poor family, I need a job to support my family as soon as I finish the course. This is why, I have taken this course,” said a student from Nursing college in Delhi. “As we have to pay donation apart from the higher fees in Kerala, I have come to Karnataka for the course,” said Nita Bali from Kerala. “Though the salary is less, she hopes that at least, she will get a job in a government or a private hospital” added Bali. (With input from Hindu )