Pune nurses gear up for opportunities in the US

PUNE: Sunita Chavan''s aim in life is to clear the national council licence examination (NCLE) for a qualified nursing job in the United States (US).
A licence would not only guarantee her a job with a good pay package, but would also fetch her a green card.
With a nursing degree from the Bharati Vidyapeeth-deemed university''s college of nursing, Sunita is one among hundreds of English-speaking nursing graduates from the city who are keen to cash in on the emerging opportunities in the US.
With the demand for nurses in the US growing, nursing institutes and bureaux in the city have reported a new-found interest among job-seekers.
The US department of health and human services recently said that a survey conducted by the American hospital association revealed that the demand for nurses in the country was around 2 million, out of which 1,26000 was for registered nurses.
Although there isn''t any data on the total number of nursing graduates who have already left Pune for the US, rough estimates indicate that in the last year-and-a-half, about 50 nurses migrated to the UK and the Gulf.
According to Tapati Bhattacharjee, principal of the college of nursing, several agents have been frequenting the college campus to woo students. "We have tied up with the American Institute of Career Management, which provides guidance and training to aspirants in clearing the NCLE," she said. Students have to travel to either Bangalore, Cochin or Delhi to appear for the exam, she said, adding, "There are plans to set up an examination centre in Mumbai soon."
Maitrayee Thorat, who runs a nursing bureau in the city, said the US is facing a shortage of qualified nurses not only in the health centres, but also to look after the growing ageing population. She added that this year, about 130 nurses from the region had appeared for the examination.
"Once qualified for the licence, the aspirant will be attached to a hospital for at least two years, before being allowed to work on her own," she explained, adding that a nurse can earn Rs 1,000 an hour.
Officials at the D Y Patil college of nursing said although the first batch was yet to pass out, the institute had been receiving enquiries from various agencies, both within and outside the country. He added that the reason US hospitals were scouting for Indian nurses was that they are hardworking and conversant in English.