In an effort to offset the growing shortage of nursing students in India, the California State University (CSU) is in talks with nursing colleges in country to help hospitals deliver efficient healthcare services.

In this regard, it is in a discussion with the Bengaluru-based  Dayananda Sagar Institutions and is looking to partner with it and other institutions. India is facing a serious paucity of nursing staff across all specialities of healthcare which is estimated at 50 per cent. With a growing ageing population, rise in critical care and increase in accident-trauma cases, the shortage of nurses is a bane and is detrimental to the growth of healthcare sector.

“We would help use technology to deliver efficient healthcare system despite the existing nurses shortage for education exchange programme and to conduct collaborative research, said Dr Marilyn Stonar, associate professor and international co-ordinator of Nursing, California State University, San Bernardino.

US government has stipulated on average two nurses for every patient in the Intensive Care Units, about four to five nurses for every patient during daytime and six nurses for every patient during night time. Nurses and patients in the US are growing old together. Of the 250,000 nurses who serve in the US, a third of them are on the verge of retirement. This is where healthcare providers need to advocate the use of technology to deliver efficient healthcare system, said Dr Stonar who was here in connection with an international conference on ‘Nursing education & training in a global context’ under the aegis of Dayananda Sagar Institutions.

There is a need to innovate newer methods of delivering nursing services to the community as it is humanly impossible for any nation to produce so many nurses. There is a need to create a roadmap for next five years. Under ideal conditions, the healthcare sector requires one nurse for every patient for critical illness and five nurses for every patient in psychiatric cases, Dr V Ravi, registrar, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS).

The need of the hour is to encourage tele-nursing services and auxillary services besides opening more number of nursing schools to boost the availability of the number of nurses. In fact, nursing personnel are at the forefront of healthcare delivery. There is a clear need to chalk out a roadmap for the next five years. Under ideal conditions, the healthcare sector requires one nurse for every patient for critical illness and five nurses for every patient in psychiatric cases, said Dr Ravi.

There is a huge global demand for nurses because the world population is ageing. “With the advancement of science and enhanced longevity of human life notwithstanding the fact that people are fighting chronic diseases like AIDS and cancer, the demand for experienced nurses is always going up.”

Even the Central Ostrobothnia University of Applied Sciences, Finland has commenced participation of student exchange programmes. A few select students from Finland were given opportunity to attend theoretical lectures in colleges in India, undertake study trips, and learn nursing practices and clinical practising methods.

Prof Pia Hagquist, nursing faculty, Central Ostrobothnia University of Applied Sciences, Finland, in the wake of the nursing staff shortage, even the World Health Organization was recommending promoting health which is viewed more important that curing a disease.