Dr. Unmona Borgohain Saikia, Principal & Director - Nursing

While the healthcare industry has become the largest employer in the global economy, it’s a great omen that the god’s angels on earth – Nurses – have moved from bedside to boardroom. According to the World Health Statistics Report, around one million additional nurses will be needed in the world by 2020. It’s not surprising that the world’s biggest healthcare markets like the U.S. pay registered nurses a median annual salary of $68,450 (says the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2016). In the subcontinent, nurses constitute two-thirds of the total healthcare workforce, but the numbers still don’t satisfy the burgeoning number of patients.

Back in early 2000, despite the skyrocketing demand for nursing professionals in India and abroad, it was a huge challenge for Dr. Unmona Borgohain Saikia to establish the first private nursing institute of North-Eastern India – Asian Institute of Nursing Education (AINE), affiliated to SNDT Women’s University which is accredited (five-star) by NAAC. “The beginning is always tough. Even though the Nurse population in India then was 1:45,000 against a laid down ratio of 1:5000, we struggled to obtain permission & affiliation from the regulatory bodies. Moreover, as the first Nursing college from the private sector in North-East India, making University officials to understand the need and recommend for affiliation became a herculean task as well,” recalls Dr. Unmona, Principal & Director (Nursing), GNRC Hospitals. Against all the odds and as proposed by Dr. N. C. Borah, Managing Trustee of INS Trust & CMD of GNRC Hospitals, AINE came into existence in 2004 with the prestigious B.Sc. Nursing Course.

After 15 years, one of the best educational institutes in the North-East India, AINE under the strong leadership of Dr. Unmona has built an intact reputation at the national level through constant & progressive academic performance and expansion of different courses – from B.Sc Nursing to Post B.Sc Nursing, and M.Sc Nursing. We are talking about an uninterrupted track record of 100 percent pass-out in every discipline ever since its inception. Indeed, the 636 nursing professionals graduated from AINE till date are all well-established either in the reputed parent hospital network (GNRC Hospitals) or other top-layer hospital networks.

AINE’s constant endeavors towards sensing the dearth of trained nurses in different disciplines has been appreciable. Of late, it has further achieved the distinction of being the only institution in entire North-East India to be authorized by the Indian Nursing Council for conducting the prestigious & internationally recognized ‘Nurse Practitioner in Critical Care’ program, which has been started from October, 2018. Also, today, one of the greatest challenges faced by hospitals across the world is the critical shortage of Nurses in Oncology departments. Carefully visualizing this scenario and to mitigate the sufferings of the patients with this dreaded disease, AINE has recently added another program – a diploma course in ‘Oncology Nursing’ (with effect from October, 2018) for the first time in North-East India. It’s yet another feather in its cap.

Quality Education Serves the Purpose

It looks exemplary the way AINE has pursued its vision of imparting quality education to prepare competent nursing professionals across the cultural diversity for the welfare of the society. Dr. Unmona elucidates, “In addition to the students from North-East states, we also have students from states like Kerala & West Bengal, and even from Nepal. This boosts the transcultural concept practiced by the Institute. We give individualized attention to students regardless of their socioeconomic background while nurturing their holistic growth and constantly striving for excellence”. The hands-on experience and acquaintance of state-of-the-art facilities through its parent hospital compliment the students’ academic progress.

"We are talking about an uninterrupted track record of 100 percent pass out in every discipline ever since its inception"

This approach in truth has significantly paid-off. The second ever batch of students graduated from AINE secured the top three ranks (1st, 2nd & 3rd) in SNDT Women’s University on an all India level. The students of this Institution have secured top ranks in the University almost every year. Motivation & cultivation of a progressive environment is essential for positive inculcation of knowledge and the institute tries to breed this value equally both amongst the students and the faculty. Hence, every year’s top ranker is recognized with an academic award that includes a cash prize of Rs.25,000 and a certificate. Besides education and healthcare services, AINE emphasizes on research, and each faculty is encouraged & facilitated to carry-out research work and publish articles in national and international Journals. For dedication and hard work, the faculty is also awarded on a yearly basis.

100 Percent Placement
The internationally recognized certifications make the placement a lot easier in AINE, giving it the confidence to boast of not only 100 percent placements to all the students passing-out, but also their well-poised career. A huge number of AINEians every year gets placed in several PAN India famed hospitals like AIIMS (New Delhi), Asia Heart Foundation (Mumbai), Dhirubhai Ambani Hospitals (Mumbai), MAX Hospitals (New Delhi), Tata Hospitals (Kolkata), RIMS (Manipur), and many more. Dr. Unmona adds, “Campus interviews happen well-before the declaration of the final result. We also have a very big feeder channel in our own parent super specialty Hospital that has three branches in Guwahati and one in Kolkata”.

Developing Beautiful Minds
Besides generating employment opportunities, AINE’s prime objectives include boosting socioeconomic developments in our society and promoting selfless service to the needy. Thus, in a routine manner, the students are guided to adopt some villages for total Healthcare delivery. They are also encouraged to undertake different programs under the National Services Scheme (NSS). In addition, they also actively take part in programs like School Health Camp, International Women’s Day, Voluntary Blood Donation Camp, International Yoga Day, and Pulse Polio Program, among other health-related initiatives. AINE has also conducted a couple of national seminars co-sponsored by the Indian Council of Medical Research. “We also develop the moral character among the students by creating mass awareness against the present day evils like dowry system, violence against women, and the influence of drugs,” adjoins Dr. Unmona.

En Route to the Future
Commenced its journey with merely 30 students on board and only one discipline, AINE today educates about 300 students across five courses. Within the next 10-12 months, the institute’s mission is to educate and

empower more female aspirants in different para-medical courses to boost women empowerment. In a nutshell, AINE’s endeavors are clearly projected towards making it the best Nursing institute in Asia.

Nursing is, however, an emotionally fulfilling and personally rewarding career. With excellent job prospects, a wide range of areas to specialize in, and a strong pay scale, today is the best time to be one of god’s angels on earth. But just like Steve Pavlin aesthetically echoes, “When you live for a strong purpose, then hard work is not an option. It’s a necessity”.

"We also develop the moral character among the students by creating mass awareness against the present day evils like dowry system, violence against women, and the influence of drugs"

Key Management:
Dr. Unmona Borgohain Saikia, Principal & Director (Nursing)
Dr. Unmona holds a M.Sc. (N) degree from SNDT Mumbai. Having had the opportunity to serve different big hospitals across Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata, she always dreamed of creating a better scenario in her profession. Her stint with GNRC Hospitals as a Quality Control Officer was followed by the inception of AINE, as proposed by GNRC.

Dr. N.C. Borah, Chairman & Managing Director (GNRC Hospitals), Managing Trustee INS Trust
An alumnus of AIIMS, New Delhi and a renowned neurologist (DM), An eminent Entrepreneur in Healthcare services. Dr. Borah proposed the concept of starting the B.Sc. Nursing course in North-East India. He believes in imparting quality education regardless of the number of graduates produced.

Jatin Hazarika, Retd IAS, had the unique privilege of working as chief secretary to six Chief Ministers of Assam

Dr. N.K Chaudhuty, M.Sc.Tech, Ph.D (Manchester), Retd.Principal Assam Engineering college and Retd.Vice Chancellor of Gauhati University

AINE in Spotlight:
•An uninterrupted track record of 100 percent pass-out in every discipline since inception

•The only Institution in the entire North East India conducting ‘Nurse Practitioner in Critical Care’ program, authorized by the Indian Nursing Council

•Diploma course in Oncology Nursing for the first time in North East India

•The 46 people strong faculty & staff team includes three Ph.D holders, three Ph.D pursuers, and 12 visiting faculties

Quick Facts:
Year of Establishment:
2004
Headquarter: Guwahati

Timeline:
2000 - Proposal for Nursing College –prepared.
2004 - B.Sc. (N) courses started with an intake capacity of 30 students.
2007 - Students intake increased to 50
2008 - First batch of students graduated with 100 percent placement.
2009 - M.Sc. (N) the program started with an intake capacity of 10 Students.
2011 - Post Basic B.Sc. (N) the course started under Srimanta Sankaradeva University of Health Sciences with an intake capacity of 25 students.
2018 - Nurse Practitioner in Critical Care and Oncology Diploma Courses started

Courses:
•B.Sc.(Nursing)
•Post Basic B.Sc.(Nursing)
•M.Sc.(Nursing)
•Nurse practitioner in Critical Care
•Post basic Diploma in Oncology Nursing