Chennai, 10th May, 2011: In an endeavor to recognize the contribution of nurses to the nation’s health, the nursing department of Apollo Hospitals Chennai hosted the 2nd Nursing Conclave today. The conclave provided a panoramic view of recent trends and future outlooks in Nursing. Ms Preetha Reddy, MD, Apollo Hospitals Group inaugurated the 2 day long conclave. The conclave focused on challenges faced in nursing like- due recognition, high attrition rate and their positioning in the healthcare system.

The conclave is an initiative in carving all the healthcare brands to bring the nurses’ contribution into the limelight in the arena of the Public Healthcare business. “We are at the cusp of enormous change in health care. In an ever-changing health care environment, nurses must be ready to guide change and demonstrate leadership. The conclave is a platform to discuss the challenges faced by the nurses and the need to give nursing an authority for better judgment and outcomes,” said Ms Preetha Reddy, MD, Apollo Hospitals Group while addressing the conclave.

The transformation of nursing to meet the needs of diverse people and to deliver institutional and community-based care requires more than conversion of deans, administrators, clinical specialists, staff nurses, practitioners, faculty, students, and the keepers of the regulatory and accreditation shrines. “At Apollo our commemoration is to acknowledge the work and services nurses render to the community at large. The celebration is to strengthen the nurses and doctors “Partnership in Care”, said Capt. (Ms) Usha Bannerjee, Group Director Nursing, Apollo Hospitals Group. She further added, “The idea is to felicitate the efforts and hard work contributed by nurses as they are an inter face to the patients and thus, the brand ambassadors for the hospitality of the hospital. The routine issues like stress management, infection control and quality assurance were addressed to help nurses deliver quality, the macro way.”

The conclave witnessed valuable inputs shared on the challenges and competencies nurses face, hospital design and functioning, occupational safety, stress management and many other relevant contents, meaningful for the Nursing Leaders of today. It also focused on the future of Nursing in the healthcare system in India. “Nursing personnel play an important role in providing seamless and efficient health care services in hospitals and nursing homes. Nursing is a very noble profession. Being a nurse requires a great amount of patience and sacrifice. Indeed, the country and its people require good nurses and para-medical staff for the sincere growth of the medical profession,” said Ms Punitha Singh, Asst. Director Nursing, Apollo Hospitals, Chennai. Also present at the conclave were Ms Shirley David, Professor, CMCH, Vellore; Dr Jothi Clara, Director Nursing, Global Hospitals Group; Dr Latha Venkatesan, Principal Apollo College of Nursing; Dr Kanchana, Principal, Omayal Achi College of Nursing and Ms Rosalind Rachel, Principal, Indira College of Nursing.

About Apollo Hospitals
In 1983, Dr Prathap C Reddy, the architect of Indian healthcare, launched the first corporate hospital in India. An integrated healthcare company, the Apollo Hospitals Group has over 8,500 beds across 50 hospitals, more than 1200 pharmacies and 100 diagnostic clinics, medical business process outsourcing services, health insurance services, and clinical research divisions with a focus on epidemiological studies, stem cell research and genetic research. To develop talent for the burgeoning need of superior healthcare delivery, the Apollo Hospitals Group has 11 nursing and hospital management colleges. These accomplishments have earned Apollo Hospitals Group accolades such as the Centre of Excellence from the Government of India and recognition from the Joint Commission International (seven of our hospitals are JCI accredited). In a rare honour, the Government of India issued a commemorative stamp in recognition of Apollo's contribution, the first for a health care organization. Apollo, for over 26 years, has continuously excelled and maintained leadership in medical innovation, world-class clinical services and cutting edge research. Our hospitals are consistently ranked amongst the best hospitals globally for advanced medical services.