The President of India conferred the Florence Nightingale Awards to 35 nurses from across the country at the Durbar Hall, here today, in the presence of Sh Ghulam Nabi Azad, Minister for Health and Family Welfare, and Smt. Santosh Chowdhary, MoS (Health) and Sh A H Khan Chowdhury, MoS (Health).

Congratulating the awardees, the President said that they have distinguished themselves through their exceptional service and extraordinary dedication in the care of the sick and the infirm, and that they have brought credit to a vocation that is chosen by the most selfless and compassionate among us. In recognizing them, we pay tribute to the entire corps of nursing personnel in India, the President stated. He said that today nurses are the largest workforce in the healthcare industry in India. Nursing services and capacity building have expanded considerably since Independence and their roles and responsibilities have multiplied over the years, the President said. The theme selected by the International Council of Nurses, “Nurses: A force for change – A vital resource for health”, is quite appropriate, he said. The Council has rightly recommended that the nursing workforce in India can be an instrument of change - through better workforce planning, improvement in its education and work environment and through a constructive process of assessing and addressing the nursing workload, the President stated.

The President further said that India’s healthcare industry today is worth more than 45 billion dollars. It, however, accounts for less that 1% of the global healthcare industry – even though it serves about 17% of the world population. The strength of nurses in India is currently 0.8 nurses per 1000 citizens, he stated. This, compared to the world average of 3 nurses per 1000 is quite low.  To come closer to the world average, our healthcare system would need to add about 2 million more nurses to its numbers, the President said. The President stated that as trainers and system innovators, the nurses can do much to develop better methods and educate the communities in which they live and work. He encouraged them to involve themselves in reviewing and re-modelling practices, modernising methods and rising to the challenges, and to expand their vision.

The Health Minister Sh Ghulam Nabi Azad congratulated the award winners and said that nurses have not only become an indispensable part of the healthcare system, but have expanded their contributions to Education, Research and Hospital Administration. He said that the theme chosen by the International Council of Nurses for this year is "Nurses: A force for change – A vital resource for health", recognizes the important role nurses play in health care delivery and their potential to be forceful agents of change for bettering our hospital and home based services.  He added that it is needed that we holistically preserve and develop this precious workforce and also more effectively utilise services of Nurses in Public Health Services beyond the traditional domain of hospitals and dispensaries. The Health Minister encouraged nurse leaders and practitioners, both from the service and education sector, to come forward and pave the way towards making nursing stronger in the country and fully participate in the mission to achieve the national health goals.

The International Council of Nurses celebrates the International Nurses Day in order to increase public awareness about nursing profession and its immense contribution towards health care service and innovation. The awardees are presented with Rs 50,000/-, a certificate and a medal.

The list of awardees for 2014 is as follows-

1.      Ms. Daizy Thomas from Andhra Pradesh.

2.      Major General Sunita Kapoor from Army Head Quarters.

3.      Dr. Sudhamani Amma. S from Kerala.

4.      Ms. A. Gnana Laxmi from Hyderabad.

5.      Ms. Rafiqa Bashir from Jammu & Kashmir.

6.      Dr. Punitha Vijaya Ezhilarasu from Tamil Nadu.

7.      Dr. Sailaxmi Gandhi from Karnataka.

8.      Sister Saumya from Andhra Pradesh.

9.      Ms. Tapasi Pandit from Arunachal Pradesh.

10.  Ms. Annamma Varughese from Bihar.

11.  Ms. Kailash Radhid Masih from Chandigarh.

12.  Ms. Bhanumati Kantilal Popatani from Dadra & Nagar Haveli.

13.  Ms. Maria Conceicao Satos De Costa from Daman & Diu.

14.  Ms. Praveen F. Goravanakolla from Karnataka.

15.  Ms. Sharmila. K from Kerala.

16.  Ms. Chhaya Pramod Lad from Maharashtra.

17.  Ms. Yumnam Soroja Devi from Manipur.

18.  Ms. Lallungmuani from Mizoram.

19.  Mr. Baldev Singh from Rajasthan.

20.  Ms. Beula Indrani from Tamil Nadu.

21.  Ms. Suman R. Kashyap from New Delhi.

22.  Ms. Asha Khosla from New Delhi.

23.  Ms. Kamla Sharma from New Delhi.

24.  Ms. Buluma Saikia from Guwahati.

25.  Ms. Laxmi Rongkali from Uttarakhand.

26.  Ms. Gyati Jailang from Arunachal Pradesh.

27.  Ms. Runu Bharali from Assam.

28.  Ms. Martha Dodray from Bihar.

29.  Ms. Manjulaben Keshavbhai Patel from Dadra & Nagar Haveli.

30.  Ms. Vaishali Vilas Ruikar from Maharashtra.

31.  Ms. Elistina Marbaniang from Meghalaya.

32.  Ms. Padmabati Mehar from Odisha.

33.  Ms. Supriti Kana Mandal from West Bengal.

34.  Ms. Sunita Sharma from Chandigarh.

35.  Ms. L. Chongnu Kom from Manipur.

Also present at the certification ceremony were Sh Lov Verma, Secy (Health), and senior officers from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

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MV