JNIMS woefully short of Staff Nurses
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, October 05 2025: The Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS), Imphal - the largest State run hospital is facing acute shortage of Staff Nurses.

At present, there are only 401 active Staff Nurses against a required strength of 727, claimed a Nurse at the JNIMS Hospital in Porompat, Imphal East.

On condition of anonymity, the Nurse said there are as many as 326 Staff Nurse vacancies in the hospital.

The number of the vacancies has only grown over the years as the JNIMS authority has not recruited new Staff Nurses, she said.

Sharing how the number of the vacancies increased over the years, she said, there were no Nursing Sisters in the hospital in 2022 and as such, the Staff Nurses were performing duties as Nursing Sisters.

On August 31 in the same year (2022), the JNIMS authority promoted 66 Staff Nurses to Nursing Sisters, she said.

While these promotions created 66 Staff Nurse vacancies, it only increased after violence broke out between communities in May 2023, she added.

After the May 3, 2023 violence, more than 120 Staff Nurses of the hospital were transferred and posted to different places, she added.

In 2024, the JNIMS authority further promoted 98 Staff Nurses to Nursing Sisters, creating additional vacancies, she said.

While the promotions of the Staff Nurses to Nursing Sisters are welcomed, no new recruitments were ever held to fill the vacancies created, she said.

As per the rules and regulations of the Indian Nursing Council, the JNIMS Hospital must have at least 727 Staff Nurses.

However, there are only 401 active Staff Nurses at the hospital, she said.

New Wards have been opened and the number of beds in different Wards have increased, but no new Staff Nurses have been recruited to fill the vacancies, she said.

The vacancies that have been created by way of transfer/ posting and promotion have created a void that may threaten the functioning of the hospital, she said.

The JNIMS Director had been urged to recruit Staff Nurses, but no steps have been taken up so far to fill the vacancies, she added.

While the vacancies have remained, the burden on the Staff Nurses has only increased, and it has also become a cause of discord among the Nurses, she said.

For the JNIMS Hospital to function smoothly and efficiently, the Staff Nurse vacancies must be filled at the earliest, she added.

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