Indian Medical Association and Heart Care Foundation of India train nearly 200 nurses on the occasion of World Nursing Day 2016

Indian Medical Association and Heart Care Foundation of India train nearly 200 nurses on the occasion of World Nursing Day 2016 Organise half-day workshop in association with IMACGP, TNAI and DMA Nursing Home Forum on essential topics including home-care, child sexual abuse, effective doctor-nurse relationship, etc. New Delhi, May 13, 2016: The Indian Medical Association along with the Heart Care Foundation of India, IMACGP, TNAI and DMA Nursing Home Forum today organised a training session for nearly 200 nurses at the Russian Cultural Centre New Delhi. The half day session which took place from 2-6pm was aimed at educating nurses about essential issues such as child sexual abuse, reducing infant mortality rate through proper newborn care, the guidelines that govern an effective doctor-nurse relationship, welcoming girl children and the increasing demand for home care for chronic patients. Nurses are the backbone of the Indian healthcare system and at present India faces an acute shortage of nurses given the existing job insecurity for the contractual staff, low pay in both the government and private sectors, lack of a conducive work environment, high rate of migration to western countries and lack of infrastructure and training facilities. Given their crucial role in the delivery of medical care, IMA feels that it is important to provide nurses, the necessary training and education required by them to effectively work and flourish in their profession. The Chief Guests for the event were Ms Satya Sharma – Honorable Mayor East Delhi Municipal Corporation and Dr Arun Gupta – President Delhi Medical Council. Addressing the gathering, Dr SS Agarwal – National President IMA & Padma Shri Awardee Dr KK Aggarwal – President Heart Care Foundation of India & Honorary Secretary General IMA said, “The crucial role played by nurses in the healthcare delivery system cannot be ignored and must be recognised. At present, the profession is faced with several problems including the lack of adequate training facilities, low pay as well as a lack of respect. It is for this reason that we have organised this session today to bring together various stakeholders to discuss the shortage of nurses in the country and the need for more and better training facilities for them. We thank our partners - IMACGP, TNAI and DMA Nursing Home Forum for helping make the event possible. We will actively work towards the cause of the nurses in the coming few months and are confident that with the right kind of awareness and support, we can help fill the existing gaps.” International Nurses Day is celebrated around the world every May 12, the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth. The theme for this year is 'Nurses: A Force for Change: Improving health systems' resilience'. Adding to this, Ms Surekha Sama, Vice President North Region, The Trained Nurses Association of India said, “Issues like child sexual abuse are often kept under wraps and the time has come to bring them out in the open. GPs and nurses are the first to interact with patients and they must be educated about the various ways in which child sexual abuse victims can be identified and the necessary steps that must be taken upon identification. By providing the right kind of training and education to nurses, several lives can be saved and emerging social issues brought to the forefront. We are thankful to IMA & HCFI for helping train 150 nurses today and bring out the issues faced by them out in the open. We are hopeful that together we can continue to addresses the various issues faced by the sector and find effective solutions to them”.