Top Colleges for nursing and placement opportunities

The graduates can choose to work either in schools or in hospitals as a staff nurse. After gaining two years of experience, they can apply for international hospitals and give their career a boost.

Nursing is a paramedical profession that deals with taking care of sick admitted to the hospitals or stay-home patients. At present, nursing education is been offered in India at four levels namely,

• General Nursing and Midwifery (GNM): Three-and-a-half-year course offered by Schools of Nursing attached with a teaching hospital
• Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) in Nursing: This is a four-year full-time degree course offered by colleges affiliated to the state medical universities.
• Post-Basic Bachelor of Science (PB B.Sc): This is a post-basic programme where GNM nurses study for two years to gain a B.Sc in Nursing degree.
• Masters of Science (M.Sc) in Nursing: This is a two-year post-graduate programme in nursing in which students can choose their specific specialisations in Nursing at this level.

Eligibility and career options for the course

To pursue the B.Sc in nursing, the students should have completed 10+2 school education with Physics, Chemistry and Biology as their major subject. They should also possess a minimum aggregate of 45 per cent marks in these three subjects. A relaxation of five per cent of marks is admissible for Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Other Backward Class (OBC) students.

The course trains the students on a different aspect of healthcare both theoretically and practically in both hospitals and classrooms. They are frequently exposed to clinical experiences to gain hands-on training in nursing care. The students are also taught English speaking skills, personality development and IT skills to enhance their employability. Successful graduates find immediate placements in state-run hospitals and private multi-specialty hospitals. After two years of full-time clinical experience, the graduates can try for international career opportunities or a master’s degree in nursing.

Top colleges for nursing in India and their placement details

The Raj Kumari Amrit Kaur College of Nursing (RACKON), Delhi

Located at Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar, this college is one of the best nursing colleges in India. A government college for women, RACKON is affiliated to the Delhi University. It was established in 1946 and offers both B.Sc (Hons) and M.Sc in Nursing. The fees for studying B.Sc (Hons) is over Rs 30,600 per annum while for the M.Sc course it is about Rs 27,000 per annum. The college also is the regional study center for PhD programme in Nursing conducted by the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore in collaboration with the Indian Nursing Council (INC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO). The college is the recipient of the Global Fund for AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis (GFATM) project under the INC. Students of this institute are placed in the best hospitals in the country and abroad and offered a starting salary of Rs 15,000-20,000.

All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi

The AIIMS in New Delhi is a government educational institution for medical and paramedical courses. Established in 1952, the institute is of national importance and is top ranked for medical education by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) and Indian Today consecutively for over three years. The college offers a four-year full-time B.Sc (Hons) course and two-year full-time M.Sc in nursing degree. The placements in this institution are exceptional and some of the best performing students are recruited at AIIMS itself.

Government Medical College, Nagpur

This nursing college was established in 1947 and is affiliated to the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences. The college offers four-year full-time B.Sc in nursing degree. The college has the best teaching infrastructure and exposes students to different clinical areas during their course of study. The college arranges placement interviews for students with the top hospitals in the city. The average placement salary for a fresh graduate nurse is Rs 12,000 per month.

Christian Medical College (CMC), Ludhiana

The CMC, located at Ludhiana, was established in the year 1894 and was the first medical college for women in entire Asia. It is affiliated to the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Punjab. It offers more than 35 allied health science courses. The course fee for B.Sc (N) degree is Rs 1,47,800 for the first year. The students gain exceptional practical knowledge during their internship period and during practical sessions, a part of the course. The college offers 100 per cent placements after completion of the course with excellent placement salaries.

Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (IPGMER), Kolkata

The IPGMER, located at Kolkata, is one of the best institutes to study Nursing in India. For admission to BPT or B.Sc in Nursing, a student needs to clear West Bengal Joint Entrance Exam (WBJEE) or WBJENPAUH while for admission to the M.Sc (Nursing) course, candidates need to clear the West Bengal Post Graduate Medical Admission Test (WBPGNAT). The course fee for the first year of B.Sc in Nursing is Rs 12,500. After graduating from this college, students can find jobs in any hospital they apply and even in the most critical units such as operation theatre (OT) and intensive care unit (ICU).

Career prospects after completing nursing

There is a constant requirement for nurses worldwide. It is easy to find a job soon after graduation in Nursing. The graduates can choose to work either in schools or in hospitals as a staff nurse. After gaining two years of experience, they can apply for international hospitals and give their career a boost. The average salary for fresher in India is Rs 12,000-Rs 15,000 per month. This rises with experience and they can demand a salary of as high as Rs 1-3 lakh per month in hospitals abroad.