BENGALURU: “The sleeping position of comatose patients in the ICU needs to be changed every two or three hours and talcum powder needs to be applied on their backs so that they don’t develop bedsores,” said Neelavathy A M, ward supervisor at NIMHANS. She has been working here for 31 years.
There are two wards in NIMHANS - psychiatry and neurology. While the neurology ward has trauma cases with spinal and head injuries, the psychiatric ward has patients with mental disorders. “A nurse tending to a patient in the psychiatric ward should have eyes even behind their head to guard against assault from aggressive patients,” said Shankarling I R. He’s been a staff nurse for nine years.
In a nutshell, the commitment that is wanted of a nurse in NIMHANS is different from one in a general hospital.
NIMHANS is the only government hospital of its size in India that is dedicated to neurology and psychiatry, making a nurse’s job a challenging one. Yet, it has a cadre structure that is detrimental to a nurse’s career growth. A 20-year-old graduate in BSc nursing who joins as a staff nurse may retire as a staff nurse at 65, even if she has a PhD degree.
Unlike All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi; PGIMER, Chandigarh; JIPMER, Puducherry or Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, (which are autonomous institutes of national importance) there are only three levels in NIMHANS - staff nurse, ward supervisor, nursing tutor.
Other institutes have posts like nursing officer, senior nursing officer, assistant nursing superintendent, deputy nursing superintendent, nursing superintendent and chief nursing officer.
“We have to be content with time-bound promotions that we get every 10 years,” said Rijin Thomas, president, NIMHANS Nurses Welfare Association.
“The burnout is high. It is demoralising to retire as a staff nurse even after 40 years of experience,” said Mohan Krishna, chief nurse, community psychiatry. He joined NIMHANS in 1983 and was promoted as ward supervisor after 14 years of service.
Flora Thangam, a ward supervisor with 35 years of experience, said, “I know of cases where pregnant nurses had premature labour after being hit by a patient”
NIMHANS director Dr B N Gangadhar said a cadre review committee was set up six months ago. Until the committee submits its report, they can’t recommend creation of new posts. It is a long drawn process, he said.