A photo of a notification purportedly issued by the Indian Nursing Council is being shared on social media claiming that the Indian Nursing Council announced giving ‘Nursing Officer’ status to all B.Sc nursing candidates. The post claims that Indian Nursing Council in a notification proposed equal status for B.Sc nursing candidates, considering them as nursing officers equivalent to MBBS and Junior Doctors. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Indian Nursing Council recently issued a notification giving ‘Nursing Officer’ status to all B.Sc nursing candidates.
Fact: The Indian Nursing Council did not issue any such notification proposing ‘Nursing Officer’ status, equivalent to MBBS and junior doctors, to B.Sc nursing candidates. PIB through a tweet clarified it is a fake notification and said that Indian Nursing Council did not issue any such status to B.Sc nursing candidates. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
When we searched to check whether the Indian Nursing Council had issued any such notification giving ‘Nursing Officer’ status, equivalent to MBBS and junior doctors, to B.Sc nursing candidates, we could not find any such notification on the official website of the Indian Nursing Council.
In March 2017, the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued a circular changing the nomenclature of nursing staff in CGHS. The circular stated that all Staff Nurses under the CGHS should be addressed as ‘Nursing Officers’, and that Nursing Sisters under CGHS should be addressed as ‘Senior Nursing Officer’. Further, the circular provided a note stating-“The change in nomenclature as mentioned above doesn’t involve change in duties and responsibilities and any additional financial benefits.” However, the circular was only meant for nursing staff working in CGHS, not for all B.Sc nursing candidates in the country.
When we searched for further sources, we found an article reporting that the Karnataka government had issued an order renaming nurses as nursing officers in May 2020. Honouring the services of nurses in the fight against COVID-19, on the occasion of International Nurses Day in 2020, the Karnataka government reportedly announced renaming nurses as nursing officers. However, the government order did not announce any change either in the nature of the job or other functions performed by nurses as their roles and responsibilities. Lately, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee too recommended officials to see whether the post of “semi-doctor” can be introduced by promoting senior nurses with several years of experience.
Lately, PIB Fact Check published a tweet about this purported notification of the Indian Nursing Council going viral on social media. PIB through the tweet clarified that the notification is fake and said that the Indian Nursing Council did not issue any such notification giving B.Sc nursing candidates an equivalent status as that of MBBS and Junior Doctors.
To sum it up, this purported notification of the Indian Nursing Council giving ‘Nursing Officer’ status to B.Sc nursing candidates is a fake one.
