A nurse from government-run McGann Teaching Hospital in Shivamogga was conferred Florence Nightingale Award in the Best Nurse category on the occasion of International Nurses Day on Thursday.
Gangamma P L was one among a dozen nurses who were felicitated by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar during the event.
During her tenure at the General Hospital in Bhadravathi, between 1986 and 1990, Gangamma assisted in 2,500 family planning cases, both tubectomy and laparoscopic operations.
Sudhakar said, "A nurse is beside us when we are born and even when we die. Though doctors provide diagnosis and treatment, about 70%-80% of the time, patients are under the care of nurses. Their support is vital for a patient's recovery. We witnessed their hard work during the Covid-19 pandemic. We have identified them as nursing officers now. We will also fill up 500-600 nursing vacancies in the state," he added.
Community health officers' vacancies will be filled by nurses in some of the health and wellness centres, numbering between 8,000 and 9,000.
"We have more than 500 nursing colleges, one of the highest in the country. But it is just not the quantity, we have to improve the quality of nursing education too. There is great demand for nurses in countries like the US and England," he said.
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