On Monday, Maharashtra Nursing Council (MNC) and an Australian institute signed an MoU to provide training to nurses in specialised medical care in regions like Vidarbha.

Likely to be expanded to cover over 2.03 lakh registered nurses in the state in four years with the idea of better-equip nurses so that they can handle critical cases in places where the doctor-patient ratio is poor.

Dr Ramling Mali, president of MNC, said, “The image of nurses is that they only assist doctors. But nurses are the ones responsible for monitoring post-operative patients. Through these courses, we will teach them intensive care. They are the ones who stay with patients round the clock".

To train teachers and nurses on healthcare specialities such as orthopaedics, paediatrics, gynaecology and intensive care, over 10 Australian academics will be brought from two institutes under Health Careers to India.

“The modules will be seminars, conferences with experts and online teaching courses,” said Biju Kunnumpurath, CEO of Health Careers, which is also partnering with the Kerala and Uttar Pradesh government for specialised nursing education.

Currently there are 2.03 lakh nurses in MNC, of which 12,717 are graduate nurses while 1.9 lakh are auxiliary and general nurse midwives.