PRINCE KUMAR
Ranchi, May 17: Nurses which are considered to be the backbone of the health system of any health infrastructure in the world are very few at the only state-run super speciality hospital of Jharkhand, RIMS, because of which patients suffer the most.
At present, out of the total sanctioned post of 2200, only 450 nurses (regular and contractual) are working in the hospital. This shows the meagre condition of the largest medical college in the state.
President of RIMS Nurses Association Rekha Rai said that the nurse-patient ratio is very poor in the hospital where in the Neurosurgery ward, there are only 4 nurses to take care of the 150 patients. Though nurses are the backbone of any hospital but at RIMS, only one nurse is available for 40 patients.
“Besides administering medicines, cleaning wounds, caring for patients and changing bed linen, nurses must take notes when doctors are on the rounds, check stocks of medicines and ensure the administration of the ward is good,” she added.
“However, RIMS has taken out vacancies for 370 posts of nurses through JSSC. But the presented vacancy will not fill the total vacancy of the nursing staff at the hospital because of which patient has to suffer the most,” she further added.
Indian Nursing Council (INC), the apex body for nurses, recommends at least one nurse for eight patients in the ward, one for three in post-operative units and recovery rooms and one for every patient in critical and intensive care units.
Rekha said that out of 1400-1500 patients getting treatment at RIMS, only 450 nurses are available. Moreover, due to the absence of pathologists, ward attendees and dressers, their work is also being done by the nurses at RIMS.
Acknowledging the fact, the Head of Critical Care at RIMS, Dr Pradeep Bhattacharya said that there are only 6 nurses in the critical care unit whose capacity was 50 beds. But because of the manpower crunch, the capacity has been reduced to 15 as of now.
“Ideally, every bed should have one nurse in the ICU but at present 1 or 2 nurses look after the patients in one shift where 15 patients have been admitted. The task of nurses is challenging as at critical care its always a matter of life and death,” he added.
According to the officials of the department, the beds are decreasing due to a lack of manpower. An employee of RIMS said that earlier, 26 employees were working in the critical care unit, but due to non-payment of salary for the last nine months, maximum staff has stopped coming to work.
The employees have requested the RIMS management for a salary many times, and they have also threatened to stop the work. Despite this, the RIMS administration is not paying them a salary. So gradually, the number of beds in the CCU decreased.
On this Dr Pradeep said, “Every month, a letter describing manpower crunch is being sent to the RIMS management, but still there is no significant reply from the other side.”
He added, “Hiring nurses or paramedical staff on a contractual basis is no solution to the problem as the nurses required in critical care require special training which takes 6 to 8 months. If contractual nurses are hired then they will leave the job after a year or before which will again bring us to the same situation.”
Dr Pradeep further said, “The solution to the problem will be to hire permanent paramedical staff for the critical care which can be given proper training to handle the patients in the critical care unit.”
A public health expert said that there is a hospital-wide cascading effect of nursing shortage– the waiting period for patients increases at emergency wards leading to complications including death. In general wards, nurses are unable to quickly move recovered patients out of the wards and create space for new ones. Crowded ICUs also dent the standard of care. Attenders and ward boys are made to work for double hours and staff nurses in most wards, including intensive care units.
“The number of beds surgeries and high-tech equipment may not matter much if you don’t have adequate nursing care. We must have the policy to triple our nursing strength. This, however, may not be easy. Besides the financial support the state must find qualified nurses who clear the exam is conducted by the medical recruitment board,” he added.
