[india-drug] Training Programme on Rational Use of Medicines for Nurses (1)

["DSPRUD" <dsprud2005@yahoo.com>]

Training Programme on Rational Use of Medicines for Nurses (1)
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First ever workshop on Rational Use of Medicines for Nurses.

A Two-day Workshop for Nurses on Rational Use of Medicines was inaugurated by Mr. T. Dileep Kumar, President ? Indian Nursing Council, and Nursing Advisory to Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India.  The workshop was organized by the Delhi Society for Promotion of Rational Use of Drugs jointly with the Directorate of Health Services at the Ahilya Bai College of Nursing, New Delhi, on February 26 ? 27.  
   
Welcoming the Chief Guest and the participants, the President of the Delhi Society for Promotion of Rational Use of Drugs (DSPRUD), Mr. R. Parameswar said that though the training courses on rational use of medicines had been held for doctors and pharmacists in the past in Delhi, this was the first ever workshop, on the subject, held for nurses.  The workshop is in recognition of the fact that nurses play an important role in health care and can contribute significantly in reducing mortality, morbidity and disability and improving maternal and child health care.  He said that based on the experience of this workshop, similar workshops would be organized in the future.
   
  The two-day course, according to the Executive Vice President of DSPRUD, Dr. Usha Gupta, covered a variety of subjects relevant to the profession of nursing such as ?Problem of irrational use of drugs?, ?Adverse drug reactions?, ?Medication errors? and ?Infection control?.  The participants had an opportunity to interact with a number of specialists who spoke on a range of subjects relevant to the profession of nursing.
   
Mr. Dileep Kumar, while inaugurating the workshop, lauded the efforts of DSPRUD and the Delhi Government for organizing a training programme of this nature.  He said that nurses perform a variety of functions but their core function is related to the administration of medicines to patients and, hence, the relevance of the workshop on rational use of medicines cannot be overstressed.  On medication errors, he said that it had been reported that over 80,000 deaths in U.S.A. were due to medical errors.  No corresponding statistics were available for India.   It was of the utmost importance that nurses should have proper in-service training on correct use of medicines so as to minimize if not eliminate medication errors.  He said that apart from holding training programmes for nurses, the time had come to include rational use of medicines in the curriculum of undergraduate and graduate courses for nursing.  Major authorities involved are Ministry of Health & Family Welfare,
 Government of India, Indian Nursing Council and the Trained Nurses Association of India.  He looked forward to an alliance between these three authorities on the one hand, and the Delhi Society for Promotion of Rational Use of Drugs on the other to strengthen all aspects of training of nurses.  
   
About 40 nurses drawn from the major hospitals of the Delhi Government attended the training course.
   
Dr. Jilie Devi, Director Health Services, Government of NCT of Delhi, distributed the certificates to the participants.  Dr. Sangeeta Sharma, Secretary-cum-Treasurer of DSPRUD proposed the vote of thanks.

  R. Parameswar
  President
  Delhi Society For Promotion of Rational Use of Drugs
  Vasundhara Enclave
  Delhi - 110 096