Nepal's nurses who are known in the world for their quality services and hospitality and who were in demand on the global market are now having a hard time getting a placement even in the country, The Himalayan Times reported Tuesday.

Thanks to the increasing number of nursing campuses and the plans of big hospitals to start their own nursing courses that have backfired.

The unemployment rate in the nursing sector has gone up drastically, according to the report.

Juni Rajbhandary, who completed her three-year staff nurse course six months ago from the National Vision Nursing Campus, is still unemployed.

Of the total 40 graduates from the campus this year, only 10 managed to get placements, some however, were voluntarily engaged in the hospital just to gain experience.

"I offered to work as a volunteer just to gain experience," Rajbhandary said. She is one among the hundreds of such women in the country.

"Those who have contacts and are well-off can manage a placement very easily in any of the hospitals and can even go abroad, but students like us who could not study further - as hospitals demand at least three years of work experience for a bachelor course in nursing - and cannot manage the huge amount of money needed to go abroad cannot," she said.

Forty nursing campuses are operating under the Tribhuvan University, Purbanchal University, Kathmandu University and private campuses under the Council of Technical Education and Vocational Training. There are 40-65 students per batch.

There are 14,916 nurses under three major categories registered to work in Nepal under the Nepal Nursing Council, of whom 7,180 are registered nurses, 7,685 auxiliary nurses and midwives and 451 foreign nurses. Around 1,000 nurses graduate every year.

"It is such a pity that the skilled nurses have to stay idle due to no takers," Ishwori Khanal, registrar of the Nepal Nursing Council (NNC) said.

"Campuses providing nursing courses mushroomed due to the unstable political condition, conflict and especially during the 12-year-long tenure of the political parties," Khanal said.

"The NNC will strictly monitor such campuses and the registration will be given only to those which have proper infrastructure," Khanal said.

Education Ministry is underway to look into the increasing number of nursing campuses and to see to it that nurses are fairly distributed in health institutions throughout the country.

Source: Xinhua