The President of India Her Excellency Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil today presented National Florence Nightingale Nurses Awards 2011 to meritorious nursing personnel. The President said that nursing is an integral part of any healthcare system. There should, thus be a focus on augmenting nursing schools and training institutions in the country, to meet the increasing demand for nursing, she said. Smt. Patil emphasized that with many more technological devices available today than in earlier times, our training facilities for nurses must be upgraded. She said that nurses are the link between doctors and patients and responsiveness of nurses can, in many situations, avoid complications in the health condition. “Nursing, indeed, is service towards humanity”, she said honouring the 35 meritorious awardees at Rashtrapati Bhavan today.Speaking on the occasion, the Union Health & Family Welfare Minister Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad said that the theme of the International Nurses Day – “Closing the Gap: Increasing Access and Equity” is very topical and is the bedrock of the Millennium Development Goals which we are all striving to achieve. He lamented that despite efforts, the low nurse doctor ratio in India is a cause for concern. Shri Azad acknowledged that Nurses are critical to improving equity and access to health care and adding quality to the outcome of care. “Our public health institutions often get a poor rating because pre and post operative care is not perceived to be of good quality. The role of a nurse in quality patient care is, therefore, very significant”, he noted.
So-far there are 11.28 lakhs Nurses registered with State Nursing Councils. Out of these only 40% are active. There is an assessed need to train more than nine lakh Nurses to meet the shortfall of nurses in the country. The Minister informed that presently there are 2205 Nursing Schools, 1387 B.Sc. (Nursing) Colleges, and 414 M.Sc. (Nursing) Colleges with a capacity of 88202, 68858 and 8000 students respectively functioning in the country. But a sizeable chunk of the pass outs from these institutions go to Western and Middle East countries. Shri Azad said the Health Ministry is making concerted efforts to augment nursing personnel in the country. “We are setting up 269 new Auxiliary Nursing and Midwifery (ANM) as also General Nursing and Midwifery (GNM) Schools, particularly in the remote and underserved districts of the country at a cost of Rs. 2030 crores. This will significantly add to our training capacity and will result in an additional 22000 nurses being trained annually”, Shri Azad elaborated.
Extending the vote of thanks the Secretary, Health & Family Welfare Shri K Chandramouli reiterated that Government of India accords high priority to strengthening nursing services and hopes to attract more new entrants to this noble profession.
The names of the awardee nurses are Sallykutty E. George, Daman & Diu; Sugandhi V Policepatial, Karnataka; Gita Ben Trivedi, Gujarat; Droupadi Ghimiray, Sikkim; Sima Deb, Tripura; Sarita Thapa, Uttarakhand; Asha Ramdas Patil, Maharashtra; M.C. Lalitha, Karnataka; Sushama. S, Kerala; K. Satrabati Devi, Manipur; Nardi Bisht, Uttarakhand; Rina Samanta, West Bengal; Mallika Devi Pillai, Andaman & Nicobar; Arvind Bhaskar Kulkarni, Maharashtra; Prof. Sreelatha Pillai, Chhattisgarh; Rajani Kossambe, Daman & Diu; Nalini, Dadra & Nagar Haveli; Maj. Gen. J.K. Grewal, Delhi; Manjula Sharma, Delhi; Lucy Patric Simon, Delhi; Jacinta Gunjiyal, Delhi; Nimishaben Chavda, Gujarat; Hassina Wani, Jammu & Kashmir; Usha Devi V, Kerala; Laxmi. B, Karnataka; Lalbiaksangi, Mizoram; Vungkhoniang, Manipur; R. Kannammal, Puducherry; Narayan Bir, Tripura; Sister Shobhana, Tamil Nadu; Usha Srivastava, Uttarakhand; Madhuri Smith, Uttar Pradesh; Madhabi Das, West Bengal; Thongam Binodini Devi, Manipur and D. Ramani Premlatha, Karnataka.
National Florence Nightingale Nurses Awards are given as a mark of highest recognition for the meritorious services of the nurses and nursing profession in the country. Each award consists of cash reward of Rs. 50,000/-, a certificate and a medal. It has been decided to give this award on 12th May every year by Hon’ble President of India as this day is celebrated all over the world as “International Nurses Day” on the occasion of birthday of Florence Nightingale. Atleast one Award is earmarked for each State/UT, Central Govt, & Defence service subject to the availability of nursing personnel with meritorious services. The award is given to outstanding nursing personnel employed in Central, State/UTs and Voluntary Organizations.
Need to know the procedure of nominations for the Nurses’ awards?!