India losing its florence nightingales

MUMBAI: Critical to both basic and specialist medicine, professionals who keep hospitals running, and a key element in fighting Covid illness, nurses are a pivotal part of healthcare — and may be soon in short supply in several private hospitals in the country.This worrying trend is mainly thanks to overseas healthcare chains — from Gulf countries, the UK and Ireland — offering better packages and working conditions to Indian nurses, as all these countries shore up their nursing workforce while battling the Covid-19 pandemic.Just last week, about 500 nurses left for the UK, said Jibin TC, president of Maharashtra chapter of United Nurses Association. Australia and New Zealand are also looking to hire Indian nurses, industry watchers said, adding hundreds are being recruited in recent weeks.India will need more than 30,000 nurses in the next three-six months and an additional 2 million nursing staff over the next four years, according to a TeamLease estimate.Barring top private hospitals, nurses get a lower salary in the private sector than what the pay commission recommends for public hospitals, and industry experts say it’s just a fraction of what overseas establishments offer.Poaching of India’s well-regarded nurses is taking novel forms. Some West Asian countries have started chartered flights to ferry nurses while Britain has lowered its eligibility criteria.78672516Nursing Exams Not HeldSuch is the outward rush of trained nursing staff that department heads at leading hospital chains and senior nursing association members believe India is likely to face an acute shortage in the months ahead.“Indian nurses do go abroad for better pay and facilities but that is usually a staggered movement... but now a lot of them are going out at the same time. I have also lost a few of my high-performing critical care nurses recently,” said Sandhya Shankar, corporate chief of nursing, Pan Fortis, Fortis Healthcare.Compounding the problem is the pandemic-inflicted logjam — around 200,000-250,000 nurses who graduate every year around this time have not yet joined the system because their exams could not be held. Hospital authorities fear nursing staff currently working may face even longer hours and more fatigue.Obviously, the pay is far better overseas. An entry-level nurse will get a salary of $30,000 a year (22 lakh) apart from access to social security fund, accommodation for the entire family, and children’s education in the UK. In Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar salaries range between 200,000 and 300,000 per month for nurses with an experience of three years, in addition to insurance coverage, social security and other benefits.Public Hospitals a Better ChoiceNurses are also leaving private hospitals for better-paying public sector hospitals like AIIMS. This move offers job security while benefits are at par with those offered by top hospital chains like Fortis, Apollo or Max.The central government has a starting pay scale of around Rs 50,000- Rs70,000 under the Seventh Pay Commission, according to industry experts. Some private hospitals have a starting pay of around Rs 15,000- Rs 20,000 per month in addition to training and other facilities. However, in the majority of the other private hospitals, salaries are just Rs 6,000- Rs 7,000 per month.“I may fill in the numbers but you lose out the skill to this kind of attrition — whether it is people going for better paying government jobs or losing out talent to overseas migration,” said Dr Dhirja Sharma, vice president-head nursing, Max Healthcare. “We are constantly on the treadmill and have an upskilling strategy to fill the vacuum,” she said.Plus, nurses complain about the poor treatment in private hospitals. “People are not getting a decent salary, proper protection gear, being made to work in more than 12-hour shifts. Some hospital managements are even charging Covid test charges from nurses,” said Joldin Francis, secretary of the Delhi region of UNA.

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