The Higher Education Review

Nursing has emerged as one of the most sought-after career options among the millennials of the country. With a shortage of 4 million nurses presently, World Bank predicted that by 2030 India will need 6 million nurses, making it mandatory for the country to stay equipped with a trained class of nursing professionals. Established in the year 2007, Symbiosis College of Nursing (SCON) under the aegis of Faculty of Health & Biological Sciences, as a department of Symbiosis International (Deemed University), is committed to deal with the prevalent shortage of nurses. The college also understands the responsibility to generate leaders in the nursing profession, by providing unique and innovative programmes that are responsive to the market demand, keeping in mind the rapid advances in the healthcare sector in India as well as abroad.

Maintaining a quality of education and placement since its establishment, the institute based in Pune has earned a niche for itself in the nursing education arena. "We strongly emphasize on a holistic approach to nursing care, enabling our students to meet the international standards of professionalism and sustain the highest standard of clinical practice," shares Dr. Sharadha Ramesh, Director and Professor, SCON. The students, who get the opportunity to study at SCON, are bestowed with a fruitful campus life experience where they are provided with world-class academic, co-curricular and extra-curricular facilities. The campus that houses student from all cities of India and 85 countries is designed strategically contemplating on the varied needs of aspiring nurses of the 21st century. In addition to that, the Symbiosis Hospital and Research Centre at Lavale, which is a state of art 216-bedded multi specialty hospital, helps students in gaining practical exposure.

The facilities include research-oriented infrastructure, learning resource center with over 4257 books, accessibility to variety of e-

source for knowledge enhancement, Project reports, Dissertation, Periodicals, Wi-Fi portal system with Computer lab, auditorium, gym, anatomy museum, modern laboratories and so on."Students being our priority, we regularly keep on enhancing our offering, considering the fact that campus facilities do play a great role in today's educational scenario including the teaching-learning process," pinpoints Dr. Sharadha. Conducting courses like B.Sc. Nursing, Post Basic B.Sc. Nursing, M.Sc. Nursing and Advanced Certificate Course in Critical Care Nursing, the institute is backed by a team of faculty members who are immensely creative and qualified and are boosted to make it a point to convey education using innovating teaching pedagogies and latest technologies.

Dr. Sharadha opines, "To stay abreast with the trends of contemporary nursing education, our faculty members deeply involve themselves in research activities through participation in conferences, seminars and publishing research papers". For a personalized model of education, the institute takes a step forward and allocates a personal mentor to each student who will be responsible for mentoring the students' progress via periodic assessment and sessions throughout their academic journey at SCON.

Giving Wings to Aspirations

Enabling the new graduate nurses to attain a successful transition to practice, the institute encourages the students to undergo matchless practical activities in the form of hands-on training, planned and compulsory industry exposure, organizing clinical practicing where student patient ratio is 1:3, visits to various specialized departments for short-term training, internships, community-based training both at rural and urban area and many more. "We also send our students to Specialty hospitals for specialized experience. Organizations render our students a global exposure," claims Dr. Sharadha. Having MoUs with a good number of eminent hospitals, the institute makes it an easy process for students both in terms of training and placement opportunities.

"We at SCON believe that shaping the students’ career is our duty. Bringing them out of their comfort zones, we groom them for life, through routinely briefing them regarding real-world scenarios, the demands, and kinds of service

opportunities available both at the national and international level," states Dr. Sharadha. The students get exclusive Career Orientation Programmes and Pre-Placement Sessions comprising interview manners and etiquettes by the institute, which help in developing their adaptability skills. "Along with stimulating faculty members for research activities, we also motivate our students to perform Minor Research Projects at SIU level, and substantial funds are provided to accomplish the concerned research goals," shares Dr. Sharadha. For the students who dream to go for higher education, the institute renders thorough guidance and counseling sessions along with making them aware of the existing higher education opportunities.

On the other side, SCON pays equal attention to the job seekers by organizing campus placement drive every year. Boasting of preparing the students with required skills, the institute welcomes organizations for campus placements. "Over the years, we have been successful in gifting bright careers to every batch of our students. Carrying the same spirit, we envision instilling sensitivity amongst the youth towards the community and environment and produce thought-provoking leaders for the society in coming years,” concludes Dr. Sharadha.

“It’s satisfying to see that besides conducting various nursing programmes, Symbiosis College of Nursing is also acting as a catalyst in ensuring that our midwives update their knowledge and skill through Research, evidence-based practices, and simulations,”
Dr. Rajani Gupte, Vice Chancellor

“Symbiosis College of Nursing has created a benchmark in nursing education in India as also overseas by ensuring a steady flow of trained professionals who meet the international standards in terms of quality of education and service provided,”
Dr. Vidya Yeravdekar, Principal Director

At Symbiosis, our aim is to provide a 'value based' and 'value added' nursing training so that our graduates get a firm base for fast track growth in diverse fields of health care
Dr. Rajiv Yeravdekar, Dean, FoHBS