New Delhi, Aug 23 (PTI) Several associations of nurses and midwives said the "poor" nurse-patient ratio is leading to increased workload and long working hours and demanded policy support to build a robust healthcare workforce in the country.

The associations which have launched a campaign -- '#NurseMidwife4Change' -- said nurses play a crucial role in the healthcare industry and their importance cannot be undermined.

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The Indian Nursing Council, All India Government Nurses Federation, Trained Nurses Association of India, Society of Midwives-India (SOMI) and Jhpiego, a non-profit organisation for international health affiliated with Johns Hopkins University, are part of the year-old campaign.

At a recent meeting of campaign partners, the role of nurses and midwives and their contribution to India's healthcare system was highlighted.

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"Nurses play a crucial role in healthcare industry and their importance cannot be undermined. Over last two decades, India has made significant progress in plugging the gaps in overall availability of nurses. Due to several concrete efforts by the government, the country witnessed doubling of nursing workforce from 0.8 nurses per 1,000 population in 2000 to 1.7 in 2020.

"However, this number is still less than WHO norm of three nurses per 1,000 population, creating a need for systemic reforms," said Dr T Dileep Kumar, President of the Indian Nursing Council

Dr Roy K George, President of the Trained Nurses Association of India, said the representatives of different nursing bodies are grateful to the government for introducing draft guidelines to improve working conditions of nurses and acknowledging their hard work in creating a healthy India.

The meeting discussed various issues such as investment in education, staffing of nurse and midwives, nursing leadership, nurse-patient ratio, and workload.

They also discussed the need to prioritise investments to further strengthen this cadre and position nurses and midwives as leaders, educators and collaborators.

"The poor nurse-patient ratio is leading to increased workload, long working hours, double shifts and others leading to low quality of treatment. This issue must be resolved to build a robust health workforce in the country," the associations said in a statement.

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