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New Delhi: She looked
at herself in the mirror. Hair neatly tied, kohl-lined eyes and
some lipgloss to complete the look. Satisfied, she sprayed on some
mild deodorant. Her trainer, who also happened to have groomed a
number of beauty queens, smiled in approval.
If you thought Mini Thomas, the girl in front of the mirror, was
an aspiring model, an air hostess or even a beauty queen, you
couldn't be more incorrect. She is a nurse in one of India's
leading hospitals and this was part of her induction programme.
Like in hotels, hospitals are conducting grooming lessons and
personality development classes for their nursing staff. Looking
presentable and behaving courteously, along with good services,
has never before attained such heights in the hospital sector in
India.
"Patients who visit a hospital obviously don't come in the best of
their moods. On top of that, if a nurse is not smartly turned out
or doesn't have her manners right, he will be even more put off.
When they pay for good services, one mismatch can bring the whole
experience down," Col. Binu Sharma, vice president, nursing
services, Columbia Asia Hospitals, told IANS.
Columbia Asia, which has six hospitals across the country, with
1,300 nurses, has classroom presentations and practical sessions
on grooming for its nursing staff.
"The classroom presentation brings to focus about the importance
of personal hygiene; so your uniform must be clean and ironed,
your shoes polished, you have to be careful about mouth or body
odour, your skin must be moisturised and hair neatly tied," Sharma
elaborated.
They have roped in image enhancer and consultant for models and
beauty queens, Rita Gangwani, to give valuable tips to nurses.
"Most of our nurses come from simple, humble backgrounds, and have
no idea about make-up or things like waxing, threading. The
trainer therefore teaches them all that, and even advises them on
which brands to use," she said.
Although male nurses comprise just 20 percent of the staff, they
are also taught the basics of grooming, like shaving regularly and
keeping their moustache short.
But it's not just cosmetic makeovers. Like in Columbia Asia, the
Apollo group also takes grooming lessons for their nursing staff.
"Soft skill training for the nursing staff is an important part of
our induction programme. And it goes beyond greet, smile, say
thank you. We also teach our nurses how to be polite, yet firm
with patients; how to handle difficult patients and service
enquiry and so on," Usha Banerjee, group director - nursing,
Apollo Hospitals group, told IANS.
Sharma said: "We have a one-day module on how to handle different
customers, telephone etiquette, manners; and have a refresher
programme after six months."
The art of communication, Banerjee stressed, is something that is
of utmost importance in the health and hospital industry.
"The nursing schools that most nurses attend don't prepare them in
these soft skills. We once tied up with Pria Warrick, who is a
former beauty queen and has a finishing school, to train our
nurses. It helped," she said.
Apollo also did away with the traditional white uniform of nurses
- which children associate with fear, Banerjee said - and now have
them in soft pink. They also did away with the nurse caps.
Similarly the Max group has an elaborate one-month induction
programme for its nursing staff.
"Our focus is more on on-the-job learning. Until 2009, we were
more into theoretical learning of what to do and what not, but now
that's changed. After a seven-day classroom session on soft
skills, the nurse learns the rest practically," Col. Saravjeet
Kaur, director, nursing, Max group of hospitals, told IANS.
"For instance, it's not enough to say that smile to all patients.
If a person is in the last stage of cancer, it will be stupid if
she keeps smiling. On the other hand, if she doesn't smile at a
child who is just admitted, that also generates a negative vibe.
It's all situational."
Max also has a list of do's and don'ts for its nursing staff. For
instance, women are told not to wear heavy make-up, loud perfume,
chunky jewellery and so on.
"Ultimately, I tell my nurses to behave with the patients as they
would expect their family members, or themselves, to be treated.
That takes care of everything," Kaur said.
(Azera Parveen
Rahman can be contacted at azera.rahman@gmail.com)
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