Stir exposes acute shortage of nurses at JNIMS
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, November 09 2025: Senior Nursing Sisters' open revolt at the Jawaharlal Nehru Institution of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) Porompat today has once again brought to light a crunching shortage of Staff Nurses hindering normal functioning of the hospital.

The Senior Nursing Sisters of the hospital have been treated as Staff Nurses and assigned night duty at wards against the rules and guidelines of the Indian Nursing Council (INC), the revolting staff have claimed, stating they will stop performing the duty that has been assigned against the rules from tomorrow.

This open defiance of the Senior Nursing Sisters came amid shortage of more than 700 Staff Nurses.

The hospital has about 401 active Staff Nurses against a required strength of 727 .

Stir exposes acute shortage of nurses at JNIMS

These numbers as told by a Nurse were published by this paper on October 6 .

Speaking to reporters in front of the office of the Medical Superintendent today, Senior Nursing Sister L Sanjarani said, "By assigning night duty, the Senior Nursing Sisters have been downgraded in rank and this has put extra stress on them and increased the workload" .

Prioritising patient-care, the Senior Nursing Sisters have performed the night duty assigned against the rules for one week.

"But, we have now decided to stop performing the assigned duty from tomorrow," Sanjarani said.

The Senior Nursing Sisters who have decided to launch the stir were promoted to the rank in 2022.These Senior Nursing Sisters have worked in the hospital for over 20 years, Sanjarani said.

The night duty was assigned to them amid shortages created by a recent promotion of as many as 98 Staff Nurses to the rank of Nursing Sisters following the Staff Inspection Unit (SIU) norms, Sanjarani said.

The 98 Staff Nurses were promoted in 2024.While the INC's guidelines state that the Nursing Sisters promoted through the SIU norms may perform the duties of Staff Nurses, this rule has not been enforced at JNIMS, she added.

Sanjarani explained, a Staff Nurse promoted through the SIU norms is entitled to the status and pay of a Nursing Sister, but she can be assigned duties which she previously performed as a Staff Nurse.

However, this rule about the duty has not been enforced at JNIMS Hospital and thus the shortage or gap created by the promotion of 98 Staff Nurses has not been filled, Sanjarani said.

While the rule is not applied to those applicable, the Senior Nursing Sisters (not promoted through SIU) have been assigned night duty at Wards against the rules, Sanjarani added.

The INC guidelines, she said, have no provision for a Nursing Sister to perform night duty (like Staff Nurses).

As per the INC guidelines, Nursing Sisters at the hospital may be assigned duties as Night Supervisors at 38 Wards.

Further, a Nursing Sister may not be assigned or given two duties at night.

The JNIMS authority, however, has assigned the Nursing Sisters double duties, Sanjarani said.

Besides assigning duties as Night Supervisors, the Nursing Sisters have been assigned to perform duties at the Wards three nights a week, she said.

Even the INC's norms regarding the working hours are not followed at JNIMS, she added.

The Nursing Sisters have repeatedly submitted representations appealing against the duties assigned, but no actions have been taken up so far to address the grievances, Sanjarani said.

The hospital, she said, is facing a severe shortage of Staff Nurses, especially after the promotion of 98 of them in 2024, and utilization of Nurses following the May 3, 2023 conflict.

While the JNIMS authorities and the Govt have not taken up any steps to recruit and fill the vacancies, the burden on the existing staff is immense with increase in the number of patients, Sanjarani said.

Considering the needs of the patients and prioritising patient-care, the Senior Nursing Sisters have performed the night duties assigned to them against the rules.

The Senior Nursing Sisters now have decided not to tolerate this any longer and perform the duties assigned against rules from tomorrow, she reiterated.

She sought the attention of the Government, the JNIMS authority and Nursing bodies including the Manipur Nursing Council, Nursing Registrar and Trained Nurses' Association of India (TNAI) to address the grievances.