Caring for the elderly: A guide for a career in home nursing

Entering the medical profession as a doctor is perceived to be a noble deed, but it is often the role that a nurse plays which makes the difference to a patient’s recovery. In fact, hospital stays can be so unsavoury that a lot of people prefer to recover at home and have a nurse on-call or a resident nurse, especially in the case of caring for the elderly. Being a home nurse requires dedication, patience and good communication skills in order to deal with an ailing person. And it’s more than just administering medication and taking a person’s temperature. A home nurse has to ensure not just the physiological, but also the mental well-being of his/her patient.

“The demand for home nurses in India has witnessed a 20 per cent monthly rise. This is partly because qualified home nurses in India are being sought by people around the world, including London and a few African nations,” says Kiran Joshi, regional head of the Nightingales Home Health Specialists.

To be recognised as a qualified home nurse by the medical fraternity of India and the Maharashtra Nursing Council, one can choose between two options:

Firstly, pursue a Bachelors of Science degree in the field of nursing. Some of the top colleges in India that offer this degree are the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi, Christian Medical College (CMC) in Vellore, Tamil Nadu and the King George’s Medical University (KGMU) in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Secondly, after completing Class 12, one can undertake a three-year course in General Nursing and Midwifery (GNM) that focuses on developing the knowledge and skills of nursing students in healthcare, followed by a three-year B.Sc in Nursing.

Medical institutes that offer the GNM course are King Edward Memorial Hospital and Seth Gordhandas Sunderdas Medical College in Mumbai, Ganpatrao Adke College of Nursing in Nashik and the Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College in Mumbai.