"India also has the worst "private" hospitals if you compare the hospital support staff specially nurses. Most of them (not all) nurses have no passion and the profession itself is not given the kind of importance that it is given in the US."
This is because Nurses don't get paid well, avg pay will be around Rs 15,000/month which is simply not enough in metro cities.
Majority of the profits of private hospitals goes towards Doctors and hospital administration.
Nurses pay have been stagnant for so long. Nurses don't even get extra pay or shift allowance for working nights. Many of the skilled ones, migrate to western countries rather than stay and work in India.
Nurses do get paid well in govt hospitals, but govt hospitals are so few as compared to privately run hospitals.
I always think that even nurses that are relatively well paid are really underpaid for the job that they do. It is a highly stressful job doing a lot of really unpleasant things under difficult conditions. You have no real leeway for having a bad day -- people suffer if you don't perform. It requires a lot of study, experience and skill to do well. While computer programming is a scarce skill, in no way does it compare with the job of a nurse... and still there is no comparison in salary. And that's for nurses that are relatively well paid. The world really is unfair.
I try to impress on the hospital management during my interactions with them that nurses in some ways are the most important staff in a hospital. They interact with the patient the most and they have the most knowledge of the situation than even the doctor in some situations. Hospitals in the west seem to get this but in India they don't. Most of the focus is on the doctors and equipment. Hopefully this should change in the future.
This is because Nurses don't get paid well, avg pay will be around Rs 15,000/month which is simply not enough in metro cities. Majority of the profits of private hospitals goes towards Doctors and hospital administration. Nurses pay have been stagnant for so long. Nurses don't even get extra pay or shift allowance for working nights. Many of the skilled ones, migrate to western countries rather than stay and work in India. Nurses do get paid well in govt hospitals, but govt hospitals are so few as compared to privately run hospitals.