Delhi, India – Jhpiego, in partnership with the Indian Nursing Council, today begins a series of events to strengthen nursing and midwifery in India and build provider skills to benefit women and families throughout the country.
A 10-day Training of Trainers (TOT) workshop opens today for the senior faculty of five national nodal centers and one state nodal center. This will immediately be followed by a six-week training on Maternal, Newborn, Child Health, Family Planning and Effective teaching skills for the faculty of the Auxiliary-Nurse Midwife Training Centre (ANMTC) and General Nurse Midwife (GNM) schools. The trainings run from Nov. 4 through Dec. 24.
This effort is a part of a national initiative of the Indian Nursing Council (INC) to strengthen pre-service education for nurses and midwives in India. Jhpiego has signed a five year memorandum of understanding with the INC to provide technical assistance in strengthening the capacities of this crucial health workforce. The INC has designated five national centers of excellence for training: the College of Nursing at St. Stephen Hospital- Delhi, NRS Medical College- Kolkata, CMC-Vellore, GCON Vadodara and CMC Ludhiana and one state center in Bihar- the College of Nursing IGIMS Patna.
The U.S. Agency for International Development’s global flagship Maternal and Child Health Integrated Program (MCHIP) is supporting this project along with the Norway India Partnership Initiative (NIPI).
“The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and other international donor partners are excited about this initiative,” said Dr. Bulbul Sood, Country Director Jhpiego/India. “For its part, the Government of India has approved the approach used so far for strengthening pre-service education including the educational and clinical standards at the national nodal center and the training curriculum and material developed under the MCHIP program and has now asked INC/Jhpiego to develop four more national nodal centers modeled on the five existing ones.”
With a severe lack of nurses and midwives in many vulnerable parts of India, and a need to upgrade their knowledge and skills in other areas, the training efforts hold the promise of strengthening the quality of the health workforce, which is truly the backbone of a country’s health system.
These trainings will be held at the NRS College of Nursing in Kolkata. The 10-day Training of Trainers (TOT) is designed to prepare national center trainers for the six week curriculum. The participants of this workshop would include major stakeholders like the principal of College of Nursing, senior faculty of nursing colleges, chiefs of OBG departments, medical officers and nurses in charge of labor rooms and others. The six week curriculum has been developed by INC with support from Jhpiego to update knowledge and skills in the following areas:
- Teaching methods
- Skilled birth attendance
- Integrated management of Neonatal and childhood illness
- Family Planning
- Prevention of HIV/ STI and prevention of parent to child transmission of HIV/STI
In an effort to encourage a holistic manner of teaching, Jhpiego is setting up a skill lab as well as a computer lab at the NRS Medical College to provide opportunities for guided hands on practice. At the outset, the capabilities and teaching skills of the participants will be assessed through the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCI) tool. Mid-process assessments will be conducted to review and modify the teaching process to best suit the participants.
Emphasis on practical experience through the use of anatomic models, practice in simulation and clinical practice as well as feedback will be a part of the training process to develop desired competencies. Case scenarios and role playing will be integrated to enhance the teaching-learning process.
