Dr.A P J Abdul Kalam wants India to follow Philippines model in nursing.

Former President A P J Abdul Kalam called upon India to follow the Philippines model of nursing and allow Indian nurses to practice Medicine in rural primary healthcare centers.

Dr Kalam also asked the Indian Nursing Council to review nursing courses continuously to bring them on par with the rapid advancements in healthcare system and suggested combined classes for nursing and medical students. Kalam said nurses need to equip themselves with superspeciality courses like doctors.

Extend your role to facilitate preventive medicine by educating patients and relatives to lead a better life, he advised. A man of science himself, Kalam was all for the inclusion of technology in nursing. In the 21st century, nurses have to be technologically sound in order to be able to complement super-speciality doctors, said Kalam asking the nurses to blend care with technology and knowledge.

Advising the nurses to take inspiration from the founder of the modern nursing profession Florence Nightingale, Kalam asked each nurse to serve at least 20 patients in the rural areas. The former president added that in order to be able to do this, it was necessary for nurses to equip themselves with higher education and specialised degrees.

In India, we should conduct number of Post Graduate nursing degree courses for our working nurses through distance education system, so that we can give them career growth potential, he said. He said the Nursing College of University of Philippines was indeed unique with a Ph D programme in Nursing. Qualified nurses could practice medicine in the rural primary health centers.