LRH hires 418 more nurses

Director nursing says new staff will ease workload on paramedics

PESHAWAR: Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) has recruited 418 nurses as part of Medical Teaching Institutes reforms introduced by the provincial government.

“Increased number of nurses will help improve patient care in the largest public sector hospital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa,” said LRH spokesperson Muhammad Asim in a statement issued on Thursday.

The number of nurses has been increased from 500 to 918, Asim said, explaining that the tertiary healthcare facility faces huge flow of patients every day.



The need to hire more nurses had been felt quite earlier and finally has been done, he said.

Meanwhile talking to The Express Tribune over the telephone, LRH Director Nursing Shaheen Ghani said that 500 nurses were not enough for 1,800 beds hospital and it was difficult for them handle the patients admitted in the hospital and those coming to the OPD.

“The hiring of nurses will reduce the work load on the existing paramedical staff and substantially improve patient care,” she said.

Ghani further said that number of nurses in Emergency Department has been increased from 50 to 125 while in the intensive care units (ICUs) the number of nurses has been increased from five to 25 so that patients get timely attention.

LRH Director Dr Khalid Masud has said: “We are very keen to equip our nurses with modern skills and arranging training time to time.”

He said that LRH is the only public sector hospital in K-PK which has nursing skill laboratory to polish the capabilities of the paramedics and to provide them with the opportunities to learn from foreign experts as well.



He further added that in LRH nurses had been playing very important role to save lives during emergencies.

During incidents of terrorism like bomb blasts, the nurses of LRH have worked under immense pressure.

Dr Masoud said LRH will arrange more training sessions to improve the lifesaving skills of nurses.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2018.