Dr Anice George is the Dean of the Manipal College of Nursing and Professor of Child Health Nursing. She has been working at Manipal College of Nursing since 1991. She completed her PhD in 1998, and was the first nurse to receive a PhD from Manipal Academy of Higher Education. She is a nurse educator, nursing administrator, and researcher who values caring as the fundamental core of the nursing profession. She serves on the editorial boards of five peer-reviewed journals .She was an associate editor for the prestigious Biomed central journal- The BMC Nursing. She is an approved Ph.D. Guide of Manipal Academy of Higher Education and an expert member in the doctoral committees of various Indian Universities. She has published more than 120 scientific articles in various national and international, peer reviewed journals.

Manipal Academy of Higher Education

What are the key factors that keep you connected with the education sector?

“To groom the future nurses and see them prosper keeps me connected to the education sector”

After completing my BSc nursing, I realised my penchant for teaching. Thus, I decided to spend my professional life with the young aspiring nurses, that is, the nursing students. Hence, I decided to pursue my higher education, prepare myself to dedicate my professional life, and to groom the future nurses. 

I am content, proud and happy as I see how well Indian nurses in general and Manipal College of Nursing graduates in particular, serve mankind across the world. This is the reason why I like to stay connected with the nursing education sector.

What is your philosophy of leadership? How would you describe your leadership style?

“My ideology is in sync with the mission of the Manipal Academy of Higher Education”

I believe in transformational leadership and I believe in preparing the next level leaders and mentoring them for their individual growth and collectively for the growth of my institution. I have aligned my philosophy with the mission of Manipal Academy of Higher Education; global leadership in human development, excellence in education and healthcare. It is more specifically, to lead Manipal College of Nursing for excellence in nursing education, healthcare services, research and Human Development. I work with the values of my institution that are: quality, commitment, accountability to all what we do, team work, loyalty, integrity, and humane touch in every activity. 

How does your curriculum ensure the best practice of industry?

“We continuously adapt to the changing trends of the nursing industry”

At Manipal College of Nursing, we focus on preparing nurses to be capable of adapting to the customer requirements of today and tomorrow. We follow the national curriculum prescribed by our regulatory body, the Indian Nursing Council, but we have updated our curriculum to make it more contemporary to meet the global challenges and requirements in the profession.

We have added Evidence Based Practice (EBP) and geriatric nursing. Additionally, we conduct add-on courses like critical care nursing, neonatal nursing and operation room nursing. These are added for the final year undergraduate students to enable them to meet the additional expectations of the industry.

Since any nursing graduate is expected to take up all the responsibilities and accountability of a full-fledged registered nurse from the time she or he joins for work, we ensure that our students are given good exposure and experience. From 2020- 2021 academic year onwards, we have implemented our revised curriculum for the undergraduate courses in the Outcome Based Education framework.

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How could your university be more welcoming to students of different races or economic backgrounds?

“We believe diversity brings more learning opportunities”

Our focussed criterion for admission is the merit of the aspiring candidate in the qualifying examination. There are 22 constituent units/ institutions under Manipal Academy of Higher Education and the admission process is centralised. Also, we ensure that all our students are given equal opportunities. There are no gender based reservations, and we have started admitting the male students for the nursing programme in the year 2005. 

To motivate the academically sound students, we offer merit cum means scholarship. Our management and University leadership believes no one should be denied admission based on weak financial conditions. We welcome students of all races and economic backgrounds with the same care and individual attention.

What are your views on online education?

“Online education is an alternative to traditional learning”

I think embracing technology into education is a welcomed change to meet the interests of present day students. The present-day students are a group of people who are born into the world of technology. Thus, incorporating the advanced technology in curriculum implementation is essential to motivate them and to maintain their interest in the professional field. Like any other healthcare professional education, we too had been mostly using the traditional classroom teaching till the onset of this COVID-19 pandemic. 

During the pandemic, we quickly moved into online education to ensure continuous learning. All my faculty members upgraded their technology application skills. We were the first College of Nursing in the country to conduct the examinations for the final year students during the pandemic (following all safety precautions) to complete their course, and all of them are employed by now.

We use blended learning, where we ensure small groups of students are sent onsite for practical learning whereas the theory is carried out through an online medium. Since four years Manipal Academy of Higher Education has conducted all the examinations using E-pad. Therefore, adapting to newer technologies was never a daunting task for us. 

What were the challenges faculties had to face while adapting to online mode of teaching?

“There were issues pertaining to internet during the lockdown”

The biggest challenge was the internet problems. Many students hail from remote villages, and they were not able to attend classes. Also, June to August is monsoon and during heavy monsoon there are internet hindrances. But we worked as a team. Students visited their neighbour’s homes and sometimes terrace to seek a good internet connection to attend classes. Such was their dedication towards learning.

We supported all these with the soft copy of the learning material. We had scanned the important parts of the textbook and shared it with the students to enhance their learning. We also made use of posts to ensure our students are not deprived of learning. Although there were hindrances but there was a time flexibility from both ends.

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What do you see as Manipal College of Nursing’s greatest strengths?

“Our strength is in the amalgamation of students, teachers, course and our alumni”

The greatest strength for us is our highly talented students. And we have 30 long years of experience in nursing education. We give all the higher education programmes in nursing, including the nurse practitioner programme in critical care nursing and full-time Ph.D. programmes. As I already mentioned, we provide a lot of focus for research. Twelve full-time Ph.D. scholars in nursing are in the institution, and full time they focus on their research.

The other key highlight is the commitment and sensitiveness to public health. We have adopted three villages near to Manipal for providing continuous health care services. And we conduct regular radio talks on health-related topics, school health programs, and health education programs for the public, the patients, and their attendants who come to the Kasturba Hospital.

Another major source of strength is our alumni across the world. Many of them are holding key academic and administrative positions in India and abroad. In India, in fact, many of the nursing colleges are headed by post graduates or PhD awardees of Manipal College of Nursing.

Any suggestions you would like to give to the current youth and aspiring students?

“Nursing is a noble profession”

Students aspiring to be in nursing, I would like to tell you that nursing is the noblest profession. I consider it the noblest profession because, from the first year of nursing education, we deal with human beings and deal with human life. I personally believe that the most valuable gift the creator has given to this universe is life. 

I would like to tell the youngsters that many times the nursing professionals feel that we are not getting the recognition as much as we deserve from the society. But believe me, when you give safe care with compassion, concern and full attention to a person who is in real need, who is so precious to that family and when they become alright (sometimes they may not become alright), the good wishes which they give us is more than any recognition. So, for those who are interested in providing these services to human beings who are in need, there is no other profession better than the nursing profession, and always nurses are in demand. 

In the job market, nurses are always in high demand. And that was proven during this pandemic. And I praise the nurses who were working with the patients at the bedside as the real frontline warriors, sacrificing their leisure time, sacrificing their own family time, for the welfare of the patients who are entrusted in their hands. 

What are some plans that you are currently designing?

“We are looking forward for international alumni connect to raise the bar of learning”

We are planning for more academic collaborations with the reputed international universities. Also, we are developing a strong alumni network and engaging alumni who are well placed in the international circuits. Because, I believe when the students see how well the alumni are doing in their professional life that will be a great motivation for them. We have eight Adjunct faculties, of which three are our own alumni members who have done their doctorate in the UK or USA and are holding key academic positions. So, they participate in our teaching learning activities. And we are trying to get more alumni to participate in the teaching learning activities of the institution. The other area we are trying to focus is on faculty and student exchange programmes between international universities and our institution; if possible an international accreditation.