Centres to train 15,000 nurses in three years

by Anura Maitipe

Training Centres have been set up to train 15,000 nurses within the next three years, Minister of Health and Nutrition Nimal Siripala de Silva told the 'Sunday Observer' .

Two new training centres have been set up under this program at the Matara and Hambantota General Hospitals in addition to the centres at the Colombo National Hospital, Sri Jayawardenapura Hospital Kotte, Teaching Hospital, Karapitiya, General Hospital Badulla and Teaching Hospital at Kalubowila.

The centres have been provided with facilities to train 400 nurses annually. Meanwhile, the Health Ministry has taken steps to call for applications to recruit 1,000 nurses this month and the Gazette notification in this connection will be released shortly.

The Government's aim is to train more nurses to fulfil the country's needs and to create job opportunities available for nurses in Eastern and Western Europe. Once the new nurses move into services the nurses who had served in the hospitals for over five years will be able to apply for foreign jobs.