Deccan Herald, August 24, 2011 Kolkata - West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Wednesday said the state health ministry will train fifty thousand women to meet the shortage of nurses in the state. “We have a very high shortage of nurses in the state," Banerjee said while addressing a medical programme here. "Earlier trained nurses from south India used to come and serve in hospitals and nursing homes of the state. But now those nurses from Kerala and Chennai go abroad for jobs. ... West

Payal Gwalani, Times of India, August 3, 2011 Nagpur - Majority of the state-run hospitals are encountering staff crisis, especially the nursing staff. City's Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) is facing similar problem. In an attempt to get over the crisis, more than 80 nurses were transferred to GMCH, a couple of months ago. However, only 16 of them joined the hospital, while the others are still waiting for suitable replacements to take over their previous positions. ... GMCH

Times of India, August 1, 2011 Kolkata - A 31-year-old nurse of SSKM Hospital committed suicide by hanging herself from the ceiling of the nurse's cabin on Sunday morning, police said. The body was sent for post-mortem. Soma Sarkar, a resident of Ashoknagar in North 24-Parganas, was a nurse at the hospital's gastro-enterology department. Hospital staff found her hanging in one of nurse's cabins of the department and informed the police immediately. No suicide note was found from the spot. Police suspect that the cause of the suicide is probably some family problem because of which Soma was depressed for some time. ... Nurse

Snehlata Shrivastav, Times of India, July 8, 2011 Nagpur - Nurses at the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) went on a three-hour flash strike on Thursday to protest delay in payment of their salaries. Nurses have been getting their salaries only after 15th or 20th of every month since past year and half. They have been reminding the authorities about the delay but got no response from them. The nurses reported back to their duty only after getting the dean's assurance that payment of salary would be done at the earliest. ... GMCH

Hindustan Times, April 27, 2011 Mumbai - The nurses working in state-run medical colleges, barring six, will continue to wear reddish brown uniforms as the Bombay high court recently restrained the State Medical Education Department from allowing the traditional white uniforms for nurses working in 16 state-run medical colleges. Four of the six colleges that have not changed to the reddish brown uniforms are from Mumbai. These include Sir JJ Group of Hospitals, Grant Medical College, Cama and Albless Hospital and St George Hospital. ... State

Daily News & Analysis, April 27, 2011 About 300 planned surgeries in the JJ group of hospitals were cancelled on Tuesday after nearly 1,500 nurses belonging to the Maharashtra Government Nursing Federation went on a token strike. However, emergency work went on without any interruptions. “We did not plan a single surgery for today. All the emergency operations went well,” said Dr TP Lahane, dean of JJ hospital. Meanwhile a 70-year-old man was rushed to the JJ hospital with a skull fracture. There was a slight delay in the surgery as one of the nurses had locked the neurosurgery operation theatre which had to be opened. The man was finally operated upon. ... 300

Snehlata Shrivastav, Times of India, April 27, 2011 Nagpur - The one-day token strike of nurses in government hospitals on Tuesday was almost total but it did not have much effect on the working of the two medical colleges and the Daga Memorial Hospital as the authorities deployed nursing staff from the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and student nurses to handle emergency services. "Eleven normal deliveries were conducted with the help of NRHM and student nurses. 14 operations were also conducted," Dr Vaishali Khedikar, the medical superintendent of Daga, told TOI. ... Nurses

Anuradha Mascarenhas, Indian Express, April 26, 2011 Pune - Around 1,000 nurses from Sassoon Hospital, Aundh Civil Hospital, Regional Mental Hospital at Yerawada and Employees State Insurance Corporation Hospital will join their counterparts in the state and strike work on Tuesday. Nurses of government hospitals are also upset about the change in their dress code. “We are striking work for various demands that include parity in pay scales, filling up vacant posts and equipment and miscellaneous items in wards. We are also upset with the state order that directs nurses to revert to the old uniform system ... ” Nurses

Snehlata Shrivastav, The Times of India, April 26, 2011 Nagpur - Nurses in all government hospitals in Maharashtra including the two medical colleges in city will be on a one day strike on Tuesday to press their demands of allowances as per sixth pay commission, security, and filling up of posts as per Indian Nursing Council norms. As of now it is just a one day strike but the Maharashtra Government Nursing Federation (MGNF) is threatening an indefinite strike from June 27 if the demands are not met by then. Maharashtra Nursing Council (MNC) president Ramling Mali told TOI it was ridiculous that the government was not even following the High Court directives. ... Govt

Umesh Isalkar, The Times of India, April 23, 2011 Pune - About 20,000 nurses working in hospitals run by the state government will go on a day's strike on April 26 to protest against inadequate supply of medicines and medical accessories. "Nurses are the frontline medical staff who bore the brunt of patients and their relatives' ire. Like doctors, we should be protected by law from such attacks. Besides, the government should make available required medicines and clinical paraphernalia as this shortage is preventing us from rendering quality patient-care services," said Anuradha Athavale, president ... State

IANS, April 10, 2011 Patna - Hundreds of nurses of Patna Medical College and Hospital in this Bihar capital went on a strike Sunday after some of them were assaulted by the relatives of a patient who had died, an official said. A nurse was seriously injured in the attack. Nurses protested in the hospital premises despite the authorities trying to convince them to resume work. A medical college official said talks were on with the nurses to make them call off their strike. © 2009 sify.com India Limited. All Rights Reserved.

Health department officials communicated to them that the government would regularize their services. INN, November 9, 2010 Following the assurance given by health department officials that their services would be regularized soon, the agitating nurses of Mahatma Gandhi Hospital, Warangal, on Tuesday withdrew their protest. The protesting nurses, who had climbed up an overhead water tank as part of agitation, came down after health department officials communicated to them that the government would regularize their services. ... Warangal

Express News Service, October 14, 2010 Chennai - Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Wednesday hiked the salaries of staff nurses of all grades serving in government hospitals in the state. Apart from this, Karunanidhi also ordered payment of a special allowance of Rs 500 to all nurses. This move would cost the government exchequer an additional expenditure of Rs 15.91 crore and would benefit 12,361 nurses. Meanwhile, Karunanidhi also distributed appointment orders to 1,198 medical professionals like doctors, nurses, compounders and laboratory technicians for various hospitals throughout the State. © Copyright 2008 ExpressBuzz

Times of India, October 7, 2010 Jaipur - There are patients lying on the floor, even outside the wards of SMS hospital. The sudden rise in number of patients due to seasonal diseases has added to the chaos at the state's largest multi-specialty hospital, operating on half the required number of nurses. "Sometimes a single nurse has to handle nearly 100 patients. Delay in treatment thus becomes inevitable," says a senior doctor as he admits patients have genuine grievances. "We have to depend upon attendants for most of the post-operative care, training the attendant is much easier than acquiring essential staff ..." Scarcity

Ranchi Express, August 21, 2010 The emergency services have been badly hit at RIMS, Sadar Hospital and other Government hospitals across the state, as contractual nurses, have also joined the statewide strike called by the Trained Nurses Association of India (TNAI). Demanding regularization of their pay, setting up of Nursing Directorate, permanent service for contractual nurses, the TNAI went on an indefinite strike on Friday. The Govt has not responded to their demands yet.