LG pushes for global standards in nursing education

New Delhi: Lieutenant governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu has called for aligning nursing and healthcare education at Hindu Rao Hospital and other such institutions with international standards to tap into the growing global demand for healthcare providers, especially in ageing economies.Sources said the LG has offered to help establish international linkages and access to global best practices so that nursing students can acquire skills that match global standards. “By aligning our nursing training with global standards and best practices, we can equip our health professionals with international expertise, enable them to gain work experience abroad based on global needs, and bring back advanced healthcare skills to India,” the LG said in a post on X after visiting the MCD-run Hindu Rao Hospital and Medical College on Wednesday. The hospital has a nursing college.The LG suggested that with foreign partners’ funding, training could be organised with the assurance from Indian institutions to provide the trained workforce to the partners abroad.Sandhu is a retired diplomat and served as India’s ambassador in Washington, besides holding several key diplomatic positions in different countries.During his hospital visit, he emphasised the need to upgrade the nursing curriculum to meet the requirements of an international clientele and suggested that nursing colleges in Delhi and across India explore tie-ups with foreign institutions and train some of their students. He has asked for the nursing curriculum at Hindu Rao’s nursing college to be aligned with the requirements and standards of a global clientele.The LG underlined that while many advanced countries were increasingly ageing, India had an advantage of a large youth population, which should be suitably skilled and trained to make them employable. This demand has created a supply gap in some countries, leading to an opportunity for countries that have trained youths.“A tie-up with colleges and institutions abroad would result in our nursing and paramedical students getting trained in languages, skills and practices as per the requirements abroad and generate huge employment. These youths could serve abroad for a fixed tenure and come back, experienced, to get employed here,” said the source.