Nursing Training and Research in India: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

Nursing is one of the strongest pillars of healthcare delivery system. However, there is an acute shortage of nursing staff along with their unsatisfactory quality of education and training that leads to poor quality of nursing services in India. Moreover, the figures are dismal in terms of number of training institutions, trained nurses, nurse-population ratio and nurse-physician ratio. Inadequate management and leadership at national and state levels, lack of infrastructure, poor education and training facilities, inadequate skill upgradation, low recruitment of teaching staff, absence of nursing audit and migration are the main challenges in providing quality nursing care in India. The view forward would be to provide greater autonomy to nursing councils and adequate representation at national and state levels. They should be a part of decision-making process. New methods of teaching like computerized multimedia, audio-visual aids, teleconferencing and Satellite Training Model should be used. A nursing research information system can be developed to publish and acknowledge research work and researchers. An open access nursing journal which will publish original research, systematic and literature reviews, case studies and editorials can be started. Nursing audit for quality assurance should be introduced in the management system. Timely measures should be taken in capacity building, optimal resource allocation and infrastructure development in the nursing field to ensure quality nursing services.

Keywords: Nursing services, training, challenges, India