KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 13
Kanti Children's Hospital has started teaching Bachelor in Nursing Science Paediatric Critical Care Nursing, a three-year bachelor's programme.
This is the first time that the BNS Paediatric critical care nursing course has started in the country. This course will help bring skilled nurses in intensive care and emergency care.
"We have been running the MD programme in paediatrics since 2004. We felt there was need of skilled human resource in paediatric nursing care. Though we were producing doctors each year, the number of nurses in the field was always scarce," said Prof Ajit Rayamajhi, director at Kanti Children's Hospital, who is also the coordinator of MD Paediatrics Programme at National Academy of Medical Sciences.
Kanti Hospital is the only central hospital for children's health care in the country.
The hospital has also been conducting research involving issues of children. Annually, about 120 researches from various students - both from the master's and bachelor's level faculties and doctors working in the hospital - is going on at the centre.
"As a centre for children's health care, we have always felt that services, academics and research should go together in the institution.
Also, there is always a staff crunch in the hospital. Less than 15 per cent of the nurses are trained in paediatric nursing at the hospital. We felt the need for specialised care to provide best services," added Rayamajhi.
"There has been decline in the child mortality rate in Nepal with improvement in maternal education, access to immunisation against common illnesses, access to health care, hygienic food and clean drinking water, hand hygiene and identification and management of malnutrition.
However, with increasing urbanisation, there is always risk of critical illness such as influenza, diseases transmission in/from crowded areas, road accidents, trauma, drowning, among others.
So, critically ill/injured children need special health care. If we can give services to children from intensive care unit and emergency care, there will be decline in child mortality rate. The BNS course has started with the aim of providing such care to children," Rayamajhi further added.
The hospital has 52 beds for non-Covid patients in its ICU, while another 41 ICU beds are allocated for COVID patients. The hospital is all set to extend its emergency services. "As large number of skilled human resources is necessary for critically ill patients, we hope the paediatric nursing course will help us manage the human resource both in the hospital and across the country," said Rayamajhi. "Skilled nurses for critical care of children will be immediately consumed.
We are in immediate need of such nurses. In the long run, the nurses will grab the opportunity in other hospitals across the country," he further said.
The resources at Bir Hospital and Kanti Hospital will be used to teach students.
This three year's course will enable students to learn physiology, anatomy, biochemistry, microbiology, pharmacology, nursing care, especially in ICU, neonatal care, medical care, along with a dissertation.
There are about 120 staff nurses in the hospital. Currently, the hospital has been running with 350 beds and giving services to about 1,000 children per day from its OPD.
A version of this article appears in the print on December 14, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
