Seven Siddha and Ayurveda hospitals in Tamil Nadu have recruited 25 students who completed the 30 months course, ‘Diploma in Nursing Therapy’ from Government Siddha Medical Colleges at Palayamkottai and in Chennai in Tamil Nadu.

They will be appointed in the hospitals in the post of nursing therapists to assist the Siddha/Ayurveda physicians.

This is the first time a specialized category of Ayush therapists are posted in ISM hospitals in the country, said Dr T Thirunarayanan, secretary of Centre for Traditional Medicines and Research in Chennai, who organised the recruitment programme for the hospitals in consultation with Department of Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy, Chennai.

Raghavendra Siddha, Ayurveda Hospital in Chennai, Arogya Healthcare, Kilpauk, Herbz Alive Chennai, Swabhiman Centre for Autism, Chennai, Kokila Siddha Hospital, Madurai, SKM Group of Hospitals, Tirupur and Vignesh Ayurveda Centre, Chennai are the institutes came to the Arignar Anna Siddha Medical College at Arumbakkom in Chennai on November 28 to recruit the trainee therapists.

In addition to these organizations, CTMR has recruited some special category of therapists for two hospitals based in Thirunelveli and in Madurai. The secretary of the Centre said it will conduct more such recruitment programmes to fill up vacancies in ISM hospitals and promote alternative medicines in other states.

Out of one hundred students who passed out of the two colleges in the first batch, 47 have attended the campus interview.

The government of Tamil Nadu had started the paramedical course for Ayush Nursing Therapy two years ago with aid from Ayush department because of the shortage of Ayush Nurses in the ISM hospitals in the state. According to sources, the trained therapists are able to do therapies such as Panchakarma, Varma, Thokkanam, Yoga etc. They have additional skills in massages, nursing care and traditional dietetics.

In 2008, CTMR conducted an in-service training programme under a centrally sponsored programme of Department of Ayush for 815 ISM doctors working in government hospitals and PHCs. During this workshop, the idea of Ayush nursing therapists came up and it was put up before the ISM department in Tamil Nadu which later introduced the course, said Dr Thirunarayanan.

National Accreditation Board for Hospitals (NABH) insists that qualified therapists should provide nursing therapies in the Ayush hospitals certified by it.