kuala lumpur: It is estimated that 113,472 nurses will be needed just for public hospitals and clinics by 2025, said K. Saraswathy.
In comparison, there are 78,118 nurses for these facilities throughout the country as of Aug 31 this year, she said, answering on behalf of the Health Ministry.
The 113,472 takes into consideration the need for nurses in new healthcare facilities as well as to replace those who are due to retire.
“To ensure a sufficient number of nurses, the Health Ministry has taken various initiatives, such as employing trainee nurses whose diplomas are sponsored by the Health Ministry,” the Deputy Entrepreneur and Cooperative Development Minister said.
“Their numbers will be increased from 1,000 to 2,000,” she said yesterday.
The Health Ministry, she said, was also working with the Higher Education Ministry to lift the freeze on new private nursing colleges.
Applications to create more nursing positions are also being done in phases, she said.
As of Aug 31, Saraswathy said there are 114,922 nurses in Malaysia, consisting of 78,118 in the public healthcare sector and 36,804 in the private sector.
Of those in the public sector, she said 70,225 served in the Health Ministry, with 69,828 being permanent appointments and the remainder as contract staff.
“The contract staff are also in the process of being permanently hired by December this year, subject to the Public Services Department,” she said.
Saraswathy was responding to a question by Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin (PN-Masjid Tanah), who asked whether there were sufficient nurses in the national healthcare system for the government and private sector.
Mas Ermieyati also asked about the government’s plans to uplift the nursing profession and to ensure that it was more appreciated.
“People today see the nursing profession as ‘second class’ who supposedly only take notes from doctors and are not seen highly by the public.
“There is also the issue of local nurses who go abroad to work,” she said.
As both Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa and her deputy, Datuk Lukanisman Awang Sauni, were not present in the lower house yesterday, Saraswathy said a written reply would be given later.
