Bhubaneswar, Feb. 24: The state government has entered into collaboration with University of Nottingham, London, to augment nursing education in Odisha.

A team of senior nursing personnel from the state had recently visited Nottingham School of Nursing to study nursing education.

“The purpose was to visit the institutions and study the best practices, so that it can be replicated in our settings to improve and strengthen nursing education in the state,” said a senior official at the directorate of medical education and training. The team had suggested a series of training workshops for the nursing educators, said the official.

The department has also collaborated with Answers, a Hyderabad-based organisation, to prepare a vision document to improve nursing education.

While 71 tutors and two clinical instructors have been appointed to various nursing institutions in the state, the directorate has increased the number of nursing seats from 20 to 60 at Maharaja Krishna Chandra Gajapati (MKCG) Medical College and Hospital.

Moreover, three new government nursing schools offering courses in auxiliary nursing midwifery and general nursing and midwifery will come up in Sonepur, Nabrangpur and Boudh districts. Admissions will begin from next academic session.

The state has 2,000 trained nurses instead of the required 5,000. The state government runs five nursing schools in Cuttack, Burla, Berhampur, Rourkela and Talcher.

“The purpose behind opening nursing schools is to meet the growing shortage of nurses. Often nurses from more developed cities and towns are reluctant to go to the remote parts of the state. Local students in these districts will not only get a chance to take up the course, but also get absorbed to the state health services and can work from places closer to their home,” he said.

President of the Indian Nursing Council Dilip Kumar, who visited the directorate on Thursday to review the new programmes, appreciated the new initiatives taken by the department.