Nursing Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

is the practice of providing care for

patient A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by Health professional, healthcare professionals. The patient is most often Disease, ill or Major trauma, injured and in need of therapy, treatment by a physician, nurse, op ...

s, families, and communities in that nation to improve

health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

and

quality of life Quality of life (QOL) is defined by the World Health Organization as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards ...

History

There is evidence of institutionalised hospitals and nursing in India going back to the 5th century BC.

Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English Reform movement, social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during th ...

had a significant influence on nursing in India and had a close knowledge of Indian conditions, especially in the army. She was interested in the nursing service for the

civilian population A civilian is a person who is not a member of an armed force. It is illegal under the law of armed conflict to target civilians with military attacks, along with numerous other considerations for civilians during times of war. If a civilian engag ...

, though her first interest was the welfare of the army in India. In 1854 (in the

Crimean war The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

), when women nurses were considered as rare, Florence Nightingale shows her ability in nursing. Works of Florence results in formation of Royal Commission. Army Medical School was established in year 1857. She established "Nightingale School for nurses". In 1907, she gained "The Order of Merit" by the King.

19th century

In 1871, the first school of nursing was started in Government General Hospital, Madras with a six-month

diploma A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offi ...

midwives programme with four students. The first nursing school for women was started at

Kanpur Kanpur (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), originally named Kanhapur and formerly anglicized as Cawnpore, is the second largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh after Lucknow. It was the primary ...

's Saint Catherine's Hospital by Dr Alice Marval. Four female superintendents and four trained nurses from

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

were posted to Madras. Between 1890 and 1900, many schools, under either

mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

s or government, were started in various parts of India. In the 20th century, national nursing associations were started. In 1897, B. C. Roy worked to the standards of nursing and nurses of both Genders.

Qualifications

The Indian Nursing Council recognizes several levels of nurses: * Auxiliary Nursing & Midwife (ANM): Completion of 10+2 in any stream, followed by 2 years of ANM training. * General Nursing & Midwifery (GNM): Completion of 10+2 in any stream, followed by 3 years of GNM training. * Bachelor of Science in Nursing (B.Sc. Nursing): Completion of 10+2 in the science stream (Physics, Chemistry, and Biology), followed by 4 years of nursing education. * Post Basic B.Sc. Nursing: Completion of GNM or equivalent, followed by 2 years of additional training.. * Master of Science in Nursing (M.Sc. Nursing): A degree in B.Sc. Nursing or Post Basic B.Sc. Nursing, plus one year of work experience, followed by 2 years of postgraduate training.

References

External links