Mysore/Mysuru: The city’s biggest and oldest Hospital, K.R. Hospital, which is a teaching hospital attached to MMC&RI, is facing a severe shortage of Nursing staff, even as the MMC&RI is gearing up for its centenary celebrations.

K.R. Hospital, popularly known as ‘Doddaspatre’ among the rural masses, is a 1,050-bedded hospital and at any point of time, the hospital will be having more than 900 In-patients. This apart, the hospital has 1,200 to 1,600 Out-patients everyday.

As per the specifications of the National Medical Commission (NMC), K.R. Hospital should have 1,200 Nurses to work in all the shifts. But now, the hospital has only 250 Nurses, with most of them being stipendiaries.

As per the current record, each Nurse is attending to about 50 to 60 patients, which ratio is high according to standards. It is taking a toll on care of patients, most of them being poor. Even as the number of patients getting admitted to the hospital is increasing by the day, the declining number of Nursing staff, has led to deterioration of quality in patient care and other health care services. Though Nurses are appointed on a monthly stipend of Rs. 12,500, most of them tend to leave their job due to stress and strains and extended hours of work. As such, the general opinion is that the stipendiary Nurses should be paid at least Rs. 20,000 for all the job they do, working round the clock in shifts. Another interesting fact is that the century old hospital has just 30 Nurses on its regular rolls. Adding to the problem is that recruitment of permanent staff has not been done for years. K.R. Hospital authorities are somehow managing Nursing care of patients with the appointment of stipendiary Nurses on an ad-hoc basis. Let alone other Departments, Emergency Ward, which is always busy, too is facing a severe dearth of experienced Nursing staff.