India faces acute shortage of teaching staff in nursing colleges

Syed Falaknaaz - Mumbai

Migration of nurses to European countries for better job prospects, other issues like non-filling of posts in nursing or the teaching departments and lack of funds has not only affected the domestic health care scene but also the teaching faculty at nursing colleges.

According to the Indian Nursing Council (INC), there were over 1.28 million registered and qualified nurses in India in 2002. Earlier, a sizeable number of them headed out to the countries in the Middle East, but now its Europe which has woken up to give them a red carpet welcome.

This mass exodus of qualified nurses to Europe has hit nursing colleges across the country besides affecting the domestic health care infrastructural set-up. Colleges are finding it difficult to fill vacancies, be it a principal’s position, lecturer’s or a tutor’s.

Principal of L T College of Nursing (SNDT University), Mumbai, A Joykutty, says, “Last year there were no fresh appointments. This year the direction from the government is to fill 2/3rd of the vacancies on basic pay scale not on complete scale. With this restriction who will come.”

“Post graduate students are also weaned away from government colleges since private colleges are offering a better pay-scale. Seats reserved for reservation category are never filled. To deal with the crisis, teachers are asked to work on a clock hour basis,” adds Joykutty.

The situation in Maharashtra is acute with only two colleges offering post graduation in nursing. Till last year, L T College of Nursing was the only college in the state offering post graduation in nursing which corresponded to only 16 post graduate students for the state. It is only this year that Bharati Vidyapeth, Pune has been added to the list.

Around 50 students graduated from LT College of nursing, with two-year hands on training as a staff nurse, after which almost everyone has flown abroad.

Says its vice principal Alka Kalambi, “Our students are not given opportunities in public hospitals. If you look at today’s scenario, students having passed their graduation from municipal nursing colleges are not given opportunities in municipal nursing colleges. There is no representation of people from the nursing profession in decision making, policy making.”

Says Mangla Achala, registrar of Maharashtra Nursing Council, “Nurses trained in government-run-colleges do not find jobs in government set-ups while in private hospitals the payscale is so low, leaving them with no option but to migrate for better prospects.”

According to Kanyakumari Gokani, principal of Hinduja College of Nursing , “The status of nursing in India is pathetic. Faculties are not promised continuity, they are taken on ad-hoc basis. Their positions are not secured as a result they lose interest. Nurses who have worked in good setup do not want to stay back.”

The problem is more severe in Southern parts of the country from where a major portion of migration takes place. Says H L Ramamurthy, registrar, Karnataka State Nursing Council, Bangalore, “The government of Karnataka has not been filling the vacancies due to lack of funds. Among the 131 nurses registered with the Council about 50 percent are working abroad and we have about 105 nursing colleges facing dearth of qualified teachers. Due to this diploma colleges which have to appoint teachers with MSc nursing degree are appointing teachers with just a BSc nursing qualification.”

According to Dr B S Shakuntala, Professor, Oxford College of Nursing, Bangalore, “The mushrooming of nursing schools and colleges mostly by the private management producing loads of students has affected the image of nursing profession. Lack of infrastructure, teaching faculty and technical facilities have forced nurses in India to look for better opportunities abroad which has affected the Indian health care setup.”

Many nursing professionals attribute the nursing shortage to stringent criteria that needs to be fulfilled by candidates wishing to take up teaching positions. Says Rita Sapra, principal, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital School of Nursing, New Delhi, “The eligibility criteria for becoming a nursing college principal, and lecturer should be relaxed to a bachelors degree with 10 years of teaching experience in a nursing college.”

However, S K Chugh, secretary, INC, refutes, “The INC guidelines have been relaxed. The eligibility critireon for the post of principal of nursing college is M Sc in nursing along with 10 years of teaching experience which was earlier 14 years. Similarly, for professors, associate professors and readers, the eligibility criterion includes MSc in nursing with five years of teaching experience in a nursing college which was previously 10 years, while for lecturers it is MSc with three years of teaching experience (or clinical experience).”

Also many teachers feel that the government does not advertise about the vacancies which delays the process of filling up these positions.

States across the country are found coping with the problem in their own ways. For instance, AIIMS, New Delhi recently advertised for the teaching staff after an approval from the government,. While in Rajkumari Amrit Kaur (RAK) College of nursing, New Delhi after the retirement of its principal, the vice-principal is officiating as the principal.

At AIIMS nursing college, at the moment, there are six posts lying vacant. Though interviews have taken place to fill up these posts and they are awaiting the final approval from the health ministry, one semester is already lost.

Says Meena Aggarwal, acting principal, AIIMS College of nursing, “There should be a provision to take people with requisite qualification on ad-hoc basis till the time replacement is found. Also, clinical people can handle the dual responsibility of teaching if they volunteer, so such provisions should be made. However, one should give sufficient time to the authorities to make alternative arrangements.”

With inputs from Sapna Dogra in New Delhi and Vijaya K in Bangalore