Lanka Hospitals a national and international resource for qualified nurses

Nurses Training School 

Medical Superintendent Dr. Sunil Ratnapreya

Nurses Training School Principal Sheila Adhikari conducting a lecture

Lanka Hospitals Plc has opened its doors to foreign student nurses from Asia. Following an agreement entered into with the Maldivian Government in 2008, two batches of roughly 30 Maldivian student nurses every year are given clinical training at Lanka Hospitals. 

Sri Lanka has continually extended healthcare support to its SAARC neighbour. Since 2008, the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Maldivian College of Higher Education (now the Maldives National University) have sought Lanka Hospitals’ unparalleled clinical education support for its student nurses. It is based on this strong foundation of healthcare that the Maldivian National University decided to institute Lanka Hospitals’ training course entitled ‘Clinical Placement for Diploma in Nursing’. 

Coordinator of the Lanka Hospitals Education Centre, Deputy Chief Matron Chitra Damayanthi stated that the hospital was planning to enter into similar agreements for student nurse training and advanced training for nurses with several other countries and private medical institutions, among them Seychelles, Myanmar and Bangladesh. 

The ongoing training of student nurses from other countries is an endorsement of the high level of training and professionalism of the Lanka Hospitals Nurses Training School (LHNTS). 

The Sri Lankan trainee nurses are also absorbed into the hospital nursing cadre during their period as trainees to complement the existing cadre of fully-trained nurses.

While the hospital is committed to taking their nursing training beyond Lankan shores and becoming a regional centre for nursing training, it is also proud to have contributed 37 of its professionally-trained nurses to the National Healthcare Services sector recently.

Owing to Lanka Hospitals’ Nurses’ Training School (LHNTS) today Lanka Hospitals has 392 fully-trained nurses, with 111 assistant student nurses serving in every area of the hospital. Chief Matron Sheila Rajapakse says: “Our nursing structure is made up of graduate nurses coming from reputed universities, government hospitals and military hospitals. Apart from this, every year at least 35 qualified nurses pass out for service from Lanka Hospitals’ Nurses’ Training School. All clinical areas such as Renal Care, the Heart Centre, IVF Centre, main theatres, Cathlab, etc. are functioning very well at present with their contribution.”

While LHNTS ensures that Lanka Hospitals never has a shortage of professionally trained nursing staff, it also ensures that the private medical sector has a readily available source of professionally qualified nurses. 

Lanka Hospitals’ Nurses’ Training School Principal Sheila Adhikari, with 40 years’ experience in the government healthcare sector, added: “It is because we have a robust contingency plan in clinical care services that we can continue to fortify our existing staff while contributing to the private sector.” 

“One of the reasons our trained nurses are highly sought after is because all tutors at the LHNTS are government qualified and highly experienced in the healthcare sector in Sri Lanka and overseas,” Adhikari said.

“Every year we have roughly 50 students enrolling to pass out as nurses. Owing to the demand by students for us to accept more and the industry for more of our nurses with their high calibre of professionalism, we increased enrollments this year to 90 students with the expansion of necessary learning facilities,” Medical Superintendent Dr. Sunil Ratnapreya said.

Helen Jeannie Nicette from Seychelles, who underwent a coronary artery bypass graft at the hospital, is a retired nurse herself in her home country. She pays a glowing tribute to the professionalism, commitment and dedication of Lanka Hospitals.

“The service in the hospital is excellent. It reminds me of long ago when I was a nurse. They maintain similar standards; their teamwork and communication are excellent. They tell me every little thing before it is done, so I know what to expect. I had no major fears although my operation was a very serious one. I felt at home and just two days after the operation, I was on my feet. Their teamwork is excellent. I recommend that people come here.”