Unrecognised nursing courses in Tamil Nadu a public health hazard

Treatment by nurses with unrecognised nursing degrees have in the past caused medical complications or even death

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

The Tamil Nadu Nursing Council has urged the government to cancel thousands of nursing courses offered in the state that are unrecognised by the national or state councils. Around 10,000 candidates or more who passed out of these unrecognised six-month certification or oneyear diploma programmes, offered by institutions, including quasi-government agencies and doctors’ bodies, will not be permitted to work as nurses.

According to the state nursing council registrar S Ani Grace Kalaimathi, the candidates should not be allowed to do sutures, scans, tests on patients as they neither have adequate knowledge nor the exposure. She emphasised that there were defined job profiles for nurses who have cleared four-year UG nursing degree, three-year diploma course and the two-year auxiliary nursing and midwife courses. However, there were no job profiles for nursing or bed assistants who pursue six-month and one-year courses.

Dr R Thigarajan, member of council member said that nurses with inadequate knowledge can be a public health hazard as some of them have low-paying jobs in rural hospitals where negligence or violation of medical code will not lead to the initiation of disciplinary action against them as they do not come under the council’s purview.

As per investigations, some of these nurses turn into quacks when they fail to get jobs in reputed private or government hospitals. Public health officials said that in the past, treatment by such quacks have led to complications and deaths during dengue outbreaks.

Many of the unrecognised colleges have said that the short courses were approved by the National Council on Vocational Training (NCVT) — an advisory body set up by the Government of India in 1956, the Barath Sevak Samaj — a national development agency, by the Indian Medical Association or some deemed universities. But the fact remains, there are no agencies authorised to approve these courses.