12 May 2014
U. Tejonmayam
CHENNAI : Mental illness could be a major cause of concern by 2020 but there has been no effort to increase the syllabus on mental health for medical professionals, according to former director of Medical Education Dr V Kanagasabai.
Paying tribute to nurses during an event held at Madras Medical Mission to celebrate International Nurses’ Day, here on Saturday, Kanagasabai, who is also the former dean of Madras Medical College, said that he had recommended increasing the syllabus on mental health since there was no such subject at the undergraduate level.
“There is only a small section of the syllabus on mental health since the 1980s,” he said. Accoring to a study in World Psychiatry Journal, 75 per cent of people with mental disorders had been sick for more than a year without treatment. The journal states that a vast chunk of work in mental illness is done by primary care practitioners, especially in rural India.
Dr Kanagasabai says that nurses are better equipped as they have courses on mental health.
He said the average life span has gone up to 67 and it may rise further. But the biggest challenge is the quality of life.
He highlighted the shortage of nurses in intensive care units, where there should be at least four nurses for one patient. But we have one nurse for one patient, he said.
He said the role of nurses had changed in India. They play multiple roles, he said. Earlier Dr K Jacob, secretary of Madras Medical Mission, while delivering presidential address, said that they were a force for change.
“In the modern medical profession, they are the backbone of the healthcare system,” he said.
‘Brothers’ get a Raw Deal in Women’s Bastion
It is no longer news that women are breaking into another male bastion. But the same can’t be said about men breaking into the female bastion. Nursing has been traditionally a woman-dominated profession. But there are men too, who join the profession for the same reason as women — to care for the sick and the injured.
History tells us that globally, men were primarily caregivers during wartime when they took efforts to save the lives of fellow soldiers. It was perhaps not until Florence Nightingale was allowed in the battlefield where she tended to wounded soldiers. Today, however, while a few male nurses are employed in private hospitals, those in the State-run hospitals are restricted primarily to mental health hospitals, hospitals and dispensaries in government offices, departments and tutoring.
“We are qualified and trained in all branches including obstetrics and gynaecology. Males were mainly recruited to handle patients in mental hospitals, inmates in prisons, courts, prison wards in hospitals and be a part of the medical team for VIPs. Of course, we are also utilised in places where they need physical efforts like lifting a patient,” says Shankar Shanmugam, a teacher in the Chengelpet Government Medical College.
However, men face discrimination just like women do in a male-dominated profession. “While there are patients comfortable with male nurses, there were instances when patients preferred women. It could be difficult for a male nurse in the beginning of his career,” said Aaron, who specialises in critical care at Apollo Hospitals.
Nevertheless, the industry will be poised for a plethora of opportunities for male nurses if the it takes efforts to strictly adhere to the optimal patient-nurse ratio.
THE DISPATCH...On Mental Health 