Fabricated letterhead of INC shared to claim Nursing students designated as Nursing officers.
Claim
B.Sc Nursing Students are to be designated as Nursing Officers and that they would be considered equal to MBBS junior Doctors
Rating
Explanation
A notification by Indian Nursing Council is viral on Twitter and Whatsapp that claims three conditions including designating Bachelor Nursing candidates with the title ‘Nursing Officer’, considering the work of Bachelor Nursing candidates equal to that of MBBS candidates and calling them junior doctors in the future.
This notification – 6 of 2023 dated 5, June 2023 is seen on Indian Nursing Council letterhead. Further, the circular is seen signed by Lt Col (Dr) Sarvjeet Kaur, Secretary of the INC. Some of the posts with such a claim can be seen here and here. This circular is also shared as text without the claimed notification copy. We also were asked by the followers on Whatsapp to check the authenticity of the notification.
https://twitter.com/pravinb771992/status/1666652893511036928?s=46&t=kIszbQH_arRSG8kPbuGeZw
What is the truth?
When reading through the viral notification, we found different font styles and sizes used in the document.
When searching with relevant keywords we found a tweet dated 8, June 2023 by Medical Education Uttar Pradesh, the official Twitter page of the Uttar Pradesh Department of medical education, marking the circular as fake news. The caption in Hindi is translated as “Some organizations (social media platforms) are sharing this Fake news related to Nursing and MBBS for their promotion.”
अपने प्रमोशन हेतु कुछ संगठन (सोशल मीडिया प्लेटफॉर्म) द्वारा नर्सिंग व एमबीबीएस से जुड़ी इस Fake न्यूज़ को शेयर कर रहे हैं। #सावधान #FakeNews #MedicalEducation #NursingOfficer #MeUP #India #Medical pic.twitter.com/cbTRUw28dd
— Medical Education Uttar Pradesh (@MeUPGovt) June 8, 2023
With further search, we found a tweet dated 8, June 2023 by the Indian Nursing Council Twitter page with the username ‘PiyushRajpuro20’ related to the viral circular. It mentioned that INC is receiving queries on the viral notification that spreads rumors that B.Sc Nursing Students are to be designated as Nursing Officers and that they would be considered equal to MBBS junior Doctors.
— INDIAN NURSING COUNCIL (@PiyushRajpuro20) June 8, 2023
It further states that the viral notification is a fake and fabricated document with fake signatures and that such a notification has never been contemplated nor issued by the Council. It is also clarified that authentic notifications /circulars will be posted on the official website of the Indian Nursing Council.
This document is seen to be circulating on some social media platforms.
This is a FAKE document.
Please do not share it further.#MedicalEducation pic.twitter.com/owmND3w9lQ
— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) June 8, 2023
In addition to it, the Ministry of Health issued a fake news alert on its official Twitter handle about the viral notification mentioning that the document seen to be circulating on some social media platforms is a FAKE document and also asked the social media users not to share it further.
Conclusion
It is found that a fake document with fake letterhead of the Indian Nursing Council is being shared to falsely claim that B.Sc Nursing Students are to be designated as Nursing Officers and that they would be considered as equal to MBBS junior Doctors.
