First nursing varsity in India

Team Healthcare World, a nurse staffing company, is planning to set up a nursing university in India in partnership with a university from Pennsylvania and two other leading universities from the US. The institution, which had first introduced the training-cum-recruitment programme for nursing talents in India for top postings in US hospitals, is currently in the process of identifying an ideal location for the fully-dedicated nursing University in the country.

It has already shortlisted three locations including Pune in Maharashtra, Hyderabad and Mysore in Karnataka as suitable places for the proposed Nursing education centre and it will soon initiate talks with the concerned authorities to acquire the land.

Issac Ullatil, CEO, Team Healthcare World (THW), said: "We want to build a world class university on the lines of ISB Hyderabad. The university would work on a dual degree system and the certified nurses would be eligible to work in India and the US. We are in talks with the Indian government and also with the Indian Nursing Council for the necessary approvals."

The university would conduct entrance exams and campuses would be set up across the country. The course would be a three year degree programme and hospitals would be invited for placements too.

At present, THW is into staffing of nurses for hospitals in the US. The company educates, trains and places qualified Indian nurses in the US. Though India is currently one of the largest suppliers of nursing staff to global locations, the placement in the US is comparatively less as the country specific qualification tests are rigorous.

Team Healthcare World was the first nursing recruitment firms which launched the unique programme in India to select candidates from the nursing colleges as well as hospitals based on their track records for further professional training in the US.

The company spends around $10000 per candidate to make them prepare for the qualification tests like International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and National Council Licensing Examination System (NCLES), as well as other system familarisation. The scholarship also include visa processing, accommodation and placement in leading hospitals on par with the US nurses.

So far 800 nurses from India have been given scholarship by THW. "Indian nurses are among the most talented one in the world and we want to make India a feed ground for the US nursing field. We are negotiating with the government on this and a strategy would soon be in place," said Ullatil. The company grants scholarship to 200 candidates every year. On an average, the Indian nurses earn in the range of $6 to $7 million annually in the US.