Wadhwani Foundation’s Skill Development Network has now entered into a tripartite agreement with Association of Health Providers of India (AHPI) and Narayana Health (NH) to network and share the nursing training courses. This is to help offset India’s shortage of one million nursing staff.

The eModules developed by Narayana Health will be available over 10,000 hospitals in the country which are associated with AHPI ensuring improved quality of patient care. The shortfall of nurses is a global phenomenon and in the case of India, the shortage is imminent as its qualified nursing staff seeks employment abroad.

“Most of the time, a patient in a hospital is in the hands of nurses. Through this training, we  aim to build capacity in Indian healthcare with focus on safety and affordability. This will increase industry growth and employment and create a ready labour pool. In addition, to roll out this initiative, AHPI will also create certifications for demonstrated skills across member institutions’ employees”, stated Dr. Giridhar Gyani, director General, AHPI.

These courses will be available online to all the member institutions who wish to register through a link on the AHPI website.

Nursing shortage is not necessarily due to a lack of supply of trained nurses but primarily attributed to international migration. There is need to also upgrade the existing skills of the nurses employed in India.

“By providing scalable technology enabled job skills training to large segments, we would be able to address this skills gap. The eModules  programme will  leverage the technology and transform the learning techniques”, said Dr. Ajay Kela, president & chief executive officer, Wadhwani Foundation .

National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN) which set up the  Skills Development Network will also monitor online usage and share reports while providing for helpline support to access the courses. Narayana Health has provided all domain inputs and validation for the course content in line with the industry best practices and will actively participate in the information and training campaigns to drive this to hospitals across the nation, he added.

According to Dr. Rakesh Verma, Head, Learning and Development, Narayana Health, the course content co-produced by us and Wadhwani Foundation, will have impact at national scale.

Indian healthcare market is estimated at $100 billion in 2014 with 6 lakh doctors and one lakh specialists. In the case of nurses, India has been facing a shortage by 50 per cent. Scarcity of nurses hampers patient care. “Therefore, quality courses could create a pool of trained nurses,” he said.

The Indian Nursing Council mandates one nursing superintendent beside every 200 beds For 300 beds there is need for one deputy nursing superintendent. A hospital of 1,000 beds needs seven departmental nursing supervisors or  nursing sisters. The attendance of one staff nurse for wards to care for three to nine patients and 30 per cent leave reserve is compulsory.  

Further, the Council also insists for one nurse against 100 people in outpatient departments. The presence of one nurse for intensive care unit ( ICU) against one to three patients and eight nurses for operation theatres and labour room catering to 200 patients.