Ahead of International Nurses Day on
May 12, we tip our hats to nursing attendants
who without technically being nurses still
offer care and support to families
It is afternoon and Sajini MT has two
hours of downtime on her job as a
nursing attendant at Kottayam, Kerala.
This is when the person she takes care
of gets her nap. “She is an elderly woman and is just recovering from surgery after a fall last month. I bathed
her this morning. Once she wakes up,
I will help her do some light exercises,” she says. Sajini has been in this
profession for the past 15 years and
has cared for more than 45 people so
far. “It usually takes a few days for me
to adjust to the family and viceversa,”
she says.
The role and training
Nursing attendants providing primary
care at home play an important role in
the health sector. They care for people
who are bedridden and those who
have agerelated problems, especially
with mobility. If the person is admitted in hospital, the attendant can accompany them.
“They are trained paramedics. One
can undergo skill development courses
like General Duty Assistant (GDA) and
Bed Side Assistant (BDA) approved by
the Government to be an attendant.
Both these courses are for a duration
of three months, but these are not
mandatory qualifications for the role,”
says Vaibhav Tewari, COO of Portea
Medical, a home healthcare company
that functions in 21 cities across the
country. The company has 2,000 nursing attendants working with them and
they are provided with a 15day training session when they join the firm.
================================================================================================================
HOW NURSING ATTENDANTS ARE DIFFERENT FROM NURSES
“Nursing attendants provide care and cannot perform any medical
procedures like vaccination. Such medical interventions can be done only
by a qualified nurse. An attendant also has to look out for any changes in
the condition of the person and alert the family or nurse. A qualified nurse
can earn almost twice that of a nursing attendant. But it varies according
to the organisation that they work in, their responsibilities and their
experience,” says Dr. Rahul Padmanabhan, a Coimbatorebased consultant
in geriatrics and gerontology, and medical director of Dr Rahul’s Elder Care,
which offers a monthlong training programme for attendants he hires.
=================================================================================================================
Hyderabad based Life Circle Health
Services hires attendants who have
completed the GDA or Home Health
Aide Certification courses. “The
Health Aide certification course is for
three months. For those who have not
done these courses, we provide them
with a threemonth training that
equips them,” says Priya Anant, director of the firm. The company functions in five cities — Hyderabad, Bengaluru, DelhiNCR, Chandigarh and
Guwahati — and has about 500 nursing attendants working with them.
“We also have a qualified nurse assigned for every 30 attendants to constantly train them to meet the changing needs of their patients,” she says.
For some agencies like Life Circle
Health Services, the focus is on geriatric care. Attendants are responsible
for not just providing medication and
checking vitals of elderly people, but
also bathing and grooming them,
cooking food for them and cleaning
their room. The cost of hiring an attendant depends on the city and the kind
of work that they are assigned to do.
“It can vary from ₹600 to ₹800 for a
day,” says Priya.
Another area of speciality is child
and mother care. It is the primary focus for Delhi NCR based Medfind’s
100 attendants, who offer 12hour and
24hour service. “We have nurses who
train the attendants. Our attendants
are all GDA certified,” says Dr. Aashna
Treohan Kapoor, cofounder of the
company. The attendants also undergo skill enhancement training once in
four months.
Why necessary
Sajini says that she learnt the basics of
caring from a relative who worked as a
nurse in a hospital. “I think the most
important thing for an attendant is patience and the right attitude,” she says.
Sucharita Sankar who works as an
attendant in Kolkata with Portea has
completed the BDA certification programme. Her working hours are dependent on the requirement of her patient. “If the patient requires
roundtheclock attention, I live with
them. Otherwise, I spend the day with
them and return home at night.” She
has been working with an elderly man
in Bengaluru for the past one week. “I
check his vitals, feed him, and help
him move around the house.”
The impact that such a service has on
the family members is tremendous. Bindu Alex from Kochi, Kerala, who works
in a private firm, had an attendant to
take care of her bedridden mother. “I
did not have the physical strength or the
expertise to look after her. I was constantly worried about her health when I
was away,” Bindu recollects.
She hired the nursing attendant
through a local private agency. “The
attendant helped my mother move on
her bed to avoid bedsores, bathed her,
and kept her company. She even used
to read my mother her favourite
books. They bonded well until my
mother passed away last year.”
No comments:
Post a Comment