Nursing Research in India (Major Milestones)

Research related to nursing in India has its roots in the philosophy of Florence Nightingale, which stated that the profession is committed to the task of enlarging professional body of knowledge through systemic approach to solve problems in nursing. The statistics on the unsanitary conditions in the Indian army prepared by Florence Nightingale may be starting point of nursing research in India. Afterwards, many developments have taken place in India, including the emergence of associations, growth of educational institutions, and efforts of prominent educators and administrators to directly or indirectly adopt scientific approaches. Some of the main historical milestones which influenced the development of nursing research in India are as follows:

1. 1946: Bhore Committee (1943) submitted a report in which recommendations were made for the improvement of various aspects of nursing profession, nursing education, nursing research, working conditions, nursing services in both hospitals and community, sending nurses for higher education to abroad, etc.
2. 1953: Ms Edith Buchanan, Vice Principal, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur (RAK) College of Nursing, New Delhi, was the first nurse from India who was sent to Columbia University to earn her Doctorate in Education (DEd) under a World Health Organization (WHO) fellowship programme.
3. 1955: Ms Margaretta Craig, Principal, College of Nursing, New Delhi, attended International Council of Nurses (ICN) meet in France to present a paper on the need for nursing research in India.
4. 1960: D First two years’ master degree programme in nursing was started by RAK College of Nursing, New Delhi, which included nursing research as a full subject with a thesis work on nursing topics.Nursing research commenced on an all-India basis along with a master’s programme in nursing A in an intensive manner, although nurse leaders had been already participating in research at various levels. Clinical studies were even being carried out on short-term basis by the beginning-level postgraduate nursing students.
5. 1963: A study of health services was carried out in connection with the revision of syllabus of General Nursing and Midwifery by the Indian Nursing Council in 1963. The study provided valuable insights into the trends in the health services and implications for nursing.
6. 1964: Dr Marie Ferguson, a public health nurse who joined RAK College of Nursing, New Delhi, was able to create greater appreciation and understanding and value of the research in nursing for nursing practices, administration, and education. With senior nursing leaders of country, she conducted a research study titled Activity Study to Define Nursing and Non—nursing Functions of Nurses in Selected Health Institutes of India.
7. 1966: Trained Nurses Association of India (TNAI) established a research section under the guidance of Chairwoman Ms Margareta Craig. TNAI conducted Nurses’ Time-Utilization Study with assistance from Ms Anna Gupta, Principal, RAK College of Nursing, under supervision of Dr Sulochana Krishnan.
8. 1971: TNAI conducted a study on the socioeconomic status of nurses in India.
9. 1976: Dr Marie Farrell and Dr Aparna Bhaduri of RAK College of Nursing, New Delhi conducted seminars on nursing research for educationists at Delhi, Mussoorie (Uttarakhand) and Yercaud (Tamil Nadu) to strengthen the nursing research in India.
10. 1981: Dr Farrell and Dr Bhaduri’s book Health Research: A Cornmunity—Based Approach was published by the World Health Organization (WHO).
11. 1982: Dining October, a national conference titled Nursing Research in India: Prospect and Retrospect was organized, which was the first conference in India related to nursing research, and was held at College of Nursing, Bangalore. Some of the recommendations ofthe participants of the conference were as follows: Each college of nursing should have a research cell.The faculty at nursing colleges should encourage students and provide them time for conducting research College of Nursing should foster research attitude among nursing students. Central and state governments and private organizations should include nursing research in their budget. Opportunities should be provided for faculty to visit foreign countries on short-term basis to learn about nursing research and Efforts should be taken to establish collaborative activities in the area of research and scholastic interactions with the nursing colleges in other countries.
12. 1984: A nursing research workshop was conducted titled Teaching Nursing Research to Nursing College Teachers at Bangalore, which was sponsored by the University Grants Commission. This workshop was open to all the teachers of all the nursing colleges in India. A workshop was conducted on ‘Nursing process’ by Dr Marie Farrell at Leelabai Thackersey Colle ge of Nursing, SNDT Women University, Bombay, which was sponsored by the WHO.
13. 1986: The Nursing Research Society of India (NRSI) was established to promote research within and related to nursing. Dr (Mrs) Inderjit Walia was founder president, and Mrs Uma Handa was its first secretary. This association continues to organize research conferences every year. For the first time, MPhil programme in nursing started at RAK College of Nursing, University of Delhi, New Delhi. Introduction of nursing research process was introduced in BSc Nursing curriculum by Indian Nursing Council (INC). All colleges of nursing in India have a uniform nursing research course to be taught at undergraduate and postgraduate levels developed by Indian Nursing Council. PhD in Nursing was for the first time started in College of Nursing, PGIMER, Punjab University, Chandigarh; however, it was later discontinued because of unavoidable circumstances.Later in south India, some private institutions, such as Manipal College of Nursing, Manipal and Shri Ramchandran College of Nursing, Chennai, started PhD Nursing programs.
14. 1998: Nursing Research Interest Section was organized under the chairmanship of Mr R. Raj arathnam (Senior Nursing Tutor—NIMHANS).
15. 2002: Recently revised syllabus of Indian Nursing Council for General Nursing and Midwifery Course (revised, 2002) and Post-Basic BSc Nursing (revised, 2005) has included nursing research as a full subject.
16. 2004: Publication of Nightingale Nursing Hmes was started by Jain & Co., Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
17. 2005: Publication of an exclusive research-based journal titled Nursing and Midwiery Research Journal was started at National Institute of Nursing Education, PGIMER, Chandigarh under the editorship of Dr Indarjit Walia, an eminent nursing researcher and educationist of north India.
18. 2005: National Consortium PhD Nursing has been constituted by Indian Nursing Council under the leadership of Shri T. Dileep Kumar, President, INC, New Delhi, to promote research activities in various fields of nursing in collaboration with Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore, to initiate PhD degree programme in nursing under the Registrar of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore. WHO supports this programme. Six centres were designated as study centres, these are College of Nursing, NIMHANS, Bangalore; RAK College of Nursing, New Delhi; CMC College of Nursing, Vellore; CMC College of Nursing, Ludhiana; Government College of Nursing, Thiruvananthapuram; and Government College of Nursing, Hyderabad. These centres are corrrrected by video-conferencing facilities to impart the education.
19. 2009: Central Institute of Nursing and Research (CIN) was brought in existence under control of Trained Nurses Association of India in New Delhi.
20. 2009: Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) started PhD in Nursing.
21. 2010: Faculty of Nursing Sciences, Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot, Punjab, started PhD in Nursing.

Nursing research continues to develop at a rapid pace and will undoubtedly flourish in the twenty first century. Broadly speaking, the priority for nursing research in the future will be the promotion of excellence in nursing practices.