Dengue patient care services:

Special training programme for nurses

Ridma Dissanayake

The Health Ministry launched special training programmes for nursing staff on dengue patient care services, under the guidance of Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena.

The training programmes are held at Nursing Schools. During the dengue patient care serviceprogrammes, focus will be laid on direct inspection through better management. Blood samples of patients will be tested every two hours.

The nursing staff will be provided with training to perform these activities, continuously.

The Health Ministry has trained over 200 nurses on Dengue Patient Care. Minister Sirisena handed over 18 Haemotocrit Centrifuges to the Nursing Schools, recently essential to test blood samples of dengue patients. All trainee nurses and nurses in the Outdoor Patients Departments (OPDs) and Dengue Patient Care wards in hospitals are expected to use these equipment.

The government provided facilities essential in Dengue Patient Care to hospitals. Over 100 Dengue Intensive Care Units have been established in hospitals.