Scholarship for nursing students
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Nurses are much in demand in U.S. Now, there are better options for studying nursing abroad, such as this scholarship scheme being promoted by a Minnesota-based company.
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The nursing profession has always had its share of woes in India. Underpaid and overworked, nurses have always been a neglected lot. However, of late the focus has shifted to nursing as a profession.
These days it is not the IT professionals who are much in demand in the United States, but nurses. Moreover, unlike India, their services abroad are respected and appreciated by society. In addition, they are paid well too.
With the prospects for a qualified nurse brightening, there has been a spurt in the number of nurses going abroad. Incidentally, there has been a mushrooming of recruiting agencies too.
While the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) is the authorised agency for conducting the examinations for recruiting nurses to U.S., the heavy demand for nurses has drawn various agencies to jump into the recruiting bandwagon.
The lure of a job abroad has often led to innocent aspirants falling prey to unreliable recruiting agencies.
The norms laid down by the CGFNS are quite tough and not many nurses here are able to tackle the English language test. Once in U.S., the nurses have to take the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurse (NCLEX-RN) to practise nursing at any hospital in there.
Another option to practise nursing in U.S. is to opt for the scholarship package offered by the Minnesota-based Global Scholarship Alliance, Inc. (GSA).
"We want to be known as educators and not recruiters," says the founder and chief executive officer of GSA, Todd H. Bol, who was in Kochi recently to promote the scholarship scheme and conduct interviews to select the aspirants.
There is a nursing crisis in about 61 countries world over, says Mr. Bol. In U.S. alone, there is a shortage of 1,10,000 nurses at present, which is expected to be about a million in a decade or so, he added.
The scholarship scheme is attractive for budding nurses, fresh nursing graduates and for those looking for advanced studies in nursing.
The GSA has entered into a tie-up with quite a few nursing schools and associated healthcare centres in U.S. where students can learn and do their internship too.
Global Scholarship Alliance team in Kochi
Under the scholarship scheme, the GSA would meet the entire expense of the candidates.
However, the candidates should go back to their home country to practise nursing after completing the course in about five-and-a-half years. Only such candidates would be conferred with the university degree.
On the other hand, those wishing to stay on should reimburse the scholarship amount of about $70,000 to the GSA.
"Going back is mandatory under the scheme. But we help the candidates to seek jobs abroad or take up advanced studies once they complete their two-year stay in the home country," says Mr. Bol.
Mr. Bol floated the GSA about four years ago after a 12-year counter-trade experience in the Philippines. According to him, the scholarship scheme has many takers in Manila.
The idea behind such a scheme is to raise the level of nursing training, he says. U.S.-trained nurses can join the faculty of nursing schools here and help improve the standards of nursing.
The GSA would also pay them a premium over what the local nurses earn.
The number of candidates taking up nursing as a profession in U.S. has fallen, says Susan Sportsman, Dean of Health Sciences at the Midwestern University in Witchrta Falls, Texas.
Earlier, women had fewer career options. But now it is different, she adds. Ms. Sportsman has about 30 years experience in nursing and about 25 years in teaching.
Scholarship candidates will be able to take up nursing jobs at the United Regional Healthcare System attached to the Midwestern University, which would pay for their boarding and lodging.
Mr. Bol said that the GSA would explore the possibilities of entering into a tie-up with universities and hospitals in India for implementing the nursing scholarship programme.
The Mumbai-based Vira International brought the GSA to Kochi after they found that the success rate of nurses from Kerala was higher at the NCLEX-RN.
Alijan Rajan, managing director of Vira, says that nurses who approach the firm for opportunities abroad are provided training and an internal assessment is made through an examination before they are taken to the U.S. for the NCLEX-RN. According to Mr. Rajan, their company was only acting as a coordinator for the GSA.
Shyama Rajagopal
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