Nurses and Midwives Human Resource for Health and Their Education in India: A Situational Analysis

AIM: This study aimed to the status of the nurses and midwives human resource and training institutes in India and variations across states. METHOD: This cross-sectional study collected information available from open sources (all data for the states) and supplemented with grey literature, as of 2019. The census population data were used for estimating the nurses and midwives dentistry. There was no sample selection. All the available information for the 30 states and six Union Territories were included. RESULTS: The auxiliary nurses and midwives (ANMs) density varied from 0.7 (Bihar and Telangana) to 26.6 (Andhra Pradesh) in states and 6.6 per 10,000 population at a national level. The registered nurses and midwives (RN/RM) density varied from 0.8 (Bihar) and 0.9 (Jharkhand) to 78.7 (Kerala) in states and 16.1 per 10,000 population at a national level. In 2019, there were 1890 ANM training schools, 3155 general nurses and midwives (GNM) training colleges, and 1958 Bachelor of Science (BSc) nursing training colleges in India. These institutions had 54,948 ANM, 227,370 GNM/BSc and 40,795 postgraduate nursing seats. With the current capacity, the nurses and midwives deficit can only be met in a 6–12 years period. CONCLUSION: India suffers from severe nurses and midwives shortage compared to the global norms with wide variations across the states. Increasing the training institution’s number and seats are needed to meet the norms.