Don’t play with lives, nursing bodies to Kejriwal government on health assistant plan

NEW DELHI:  Nursing bodies on Thursday denounced the Delhi government’s decision to train 5,000 youths as health assistants to prepare for a possible third Covid-19 wave and said it was akin to playing with the lives of the people.

Demanding that the order be rolled back, they questioned why the government couldn’t hire more nurses or nursing orderlies instead of inexperienced assistants.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced on Wednesday that the government would train 5,000 youths as health assistants to assist nurses and doctors, in case the need arises.

They will be imparted two weeks’ training in basic nursing, lifecare, first aid home care, sample collection and handling oxygen concentrators and cylinders.

The training will start from June 28 in batches of 500 candidates.

Slamming the decision, Delhi Nurses Union president B L Sharma said even when a hospital hires nursing staff on a contractual basis, the minimum qualification is a three-year diploma.

“A 14-day training is just ridiculous. Even ANMs (auxiliary nurse midwives) undergo one-year training,” he said.

“This move can be counterproductive and can lead to more deaths.” Sharma said the AP government wanted to show that the city has enough healthcare staff to deal with the pandemic.

“They should have started building such a workforce last year only.”

Roy K George, president of Trained Nurses Association of India, tweeted, “TNAI demands immediate withdrawal of the plan. A responsible govt shall take steps to recruit nurses on a war footing.”