There is a growing need for skilled nurses for betterment of the country’s health sector, said speakers at a programme yesterday.

They said nurses are an inseparable part of the sector as they play a significant role in providing health services to patients.

Marking International Nurses Day, AYAT College of Nursing & Health Sciences (ACNHS) organised the programme in Dhaka’s Maniknagar Bishwa Road area. The institution also inaugurated classes of first-batch students, enrolled in a four-year BSc nursing course.

This year’s Nurses Day theme is “Nursing: The Balance of Mind, Body, and Spirit”.  According to WHO, nurses and midwives account for nearly 50 percent of health workforce.

Of the 43.5 million health workers in the world, around 20.7 million are nurses and midwives, yet 50 percent of WHO member states report to have less than 3 nursing and midwifery personnel per 1,000 people.

For all countries to reach SDDs on health and wellbeing, WHO estimates the world needs an additional 9 million nurses and midwives by 2030.

At yesterday’s event, National Professor Dr Shahla Khatun asked nurses to be role models by serving people in need.

Harvard University Professor Annekathryn Goodman, guest of honour at the event, said nurses are the ones who mainly take care of patients.

They communicate with physicians, and better understand condition of a patient as they spend more time with them than doctors, she said. “The reason medical care works is because of nursing,” she added.

AYAT Education Chief Patron Nusrat Feroz Aman said, “We need adequate number of qualified nurses.”

Citing a WHO report, Sidsel Bleken, Norway’s ambassador to Bangladesh, said the demand for nurses should be met to ensure proper health care.

Dutch Ambassador Harry Verweij said, “There is a saying -- Save one life, you’re a hero; save 100 lives, you are a nurse.”

Bangladesh Nursing & Midwifery Council Registrar Shuriya Begum; BSMMU Dr Nezamuddin Ahmed; ACNHS Principal Dr Rumana Akhter Khatun and AYAT Education Chairman Tahsin Aman were also present at the event.