PETALING JAYA: A comprehensive system is needed to monitor the quality of nursing graduates and ensure they remain competent years after, a non-governmental organisation said.

Malaysian Society for Healthcare Delivery president Vimala Suppiah expressed worry that quality levels could be affected given the high number of nursing graduates being churned out at some private institutions.

“Nursing is a technical job. We do not know if they are getting proper practical work training.

“Staff nurses and matrons have complained of poor quality nursing graduates,” she said.

The number of private nursing diploma graduates, who took the Nursing Board examination, had increased from 4,025 in 2008 to 7,665 in 2010 but the passing percentage had decreased from 86.5% to 70.1% for the same period.

However, Health Ministry and public institution graduates had a passing percentage of between 94% and 99%.

The high number of private nursing graduates has resulted in many finding it difficult to get jobs, especially given the limited number of positions available in the private and government sector.

According to government statistics, a total of 37,702 students were enrolled in nursing diploma courses in 61 private institutions of higher learning (IPTS) in 2010.

As at December 2010, the total number of trained working nurses in the country stood at 61,110 with 21,118 working in the private sector.

A check with several IPTS showed that it was easy to enrol for a three-year nursing diploma programme even if the student did not have credits in all Science subjects.

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