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Training Program for Nurses - Concepts in
Rational Drug Use and Health-care Delivery
Community Development Medicinal Unit (CDMU), Calcutta
and Sisters of Charity, Calcutta joined hands in
organizing a training program for nurses titled
‘Concepts in Rational Drug Use and Health Care
Delivery’. Although CDMU has worked with nursing
sisters in the past, a training program designed
exclusively for them was a novelty. The challenge was
taken up with enthusiasm and the program, held between
April 16-19, 1998, at the Sacred Heart Convent in central
Calcutta, was a satisfying experience for all concerned.
The participation was large with sisters and social
workers coming from various districts of West Bengal and
also from Bihar, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh. Accommodation
and hospitality were flawlessly taken care of by the
ever-smiling sisters of the order while the training
sessions were co-ordinated and conducted by CDMU.
The inauguration was a simple but elegant affair with a
lamp lighting ceremony, hymns sung by the sisters and
welcome address by Fr. Pradeep Roy on behalf of CDMU and
Sister Blanch on behalf of the Sisters of Charity. In his
inaugural speech, Dr. N. C. Banerjee, Member - Drug
Technical Advisory Board, Government of India, emphasized
the increasingly active role nurses and health workers
have to play to promote health-care and carry the message
of healthy living to the remotest corners of the nation,
specially in view of the grossly inequitable distribution
of doctors and in the context of the CSSM (child survival
and safe motherhood) program. The training course was structured into
three sessions per day as follows:
- Day 1 Human resource
development Essential drugs: concept and program
Insect borne diseases
- Day 2 Nursing
administration and organization of nursing care
Infection control in health-care settings
Maternal health & safe motherhood program
- Day 3 Acute
respiratory infections (ARI) and tuberculosis
(TB) Psychospiritual aspects of nursing care Key
topics in child health
- Day 4 Legal issues
relevant to nursing Drug inventory management for
nurses Review and vote of thanks
Most, if not all sessions,
were enjoyed by the participants, judging from the
questions that came at the end of each session and the
extra time necessary to answer them. ‘Human resource
development’ was a new topic in CDMU training
programs and gave the audience a chance to reflect on how
self-introspection can lead to greater realization of the
potential inherent in every human being. The discussion
on essential drugs turned out to be highly participatory
with the resource person breaking up the participants
into groups and allotting small practical tasks to them.
The session on insect-borne diseases dispelled several
misconceptions regarding malaria and kala-azar while the
modules on nursing administration and infection control
satisfied vital information needs of the sisters. The
subject of safe motherhood was presented in two parts -
the first a global and national perspective and the
second a down-to-earth session on how to ensure safe
motherhood in primary care settings. It was repeatedly
emphasized that this is one area where India, as a
nation, has to learn and do a lot, and that reproductive
health is not an isolated situation but has to be seen in
the lifelong perspective of woman’s health. The
discussion on ARI and TB also filled critical knowledge
gaps. The importance of case holding, in which the
non-physician health-care staff have a key role, was
stressed. Coping with the psychological stresses which
care givers face in their day to day work was explored in
the next module. ‘Child health’ turned out to
be a thoroughly appreciated and prolonged session with
the audience enjoying video films, such as the one on
acute diarrheal diseases. The concluding day saw
presentation of legal issues and technical tips on drug
inventory control. The program concluded with a
discussion of the response assessment question-naire
given to the participants on the inaugural day.
Despite its length, the program never lapsed into
monotony. It progressed smoothly in the best spirit of
scientific information sharing, teacher-student
interaction and hospitality. This was implied in the
satisfaction expressed by the resource persons and the
thank you note read by the sisters following presentation
of the certificates. It is to be hoped that this
experience has given CDMU the confidence to take up
further training program for nurses when the opportunity
arises.
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