Materia Medica Malaysiana

Nursing profession no longer an attraction - Health Minister

BANTING May 13 - Nursing is no longer an attractive profession among girls as the noble values of Malaysian society have changed with priority given to materialism, Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said Thursday.

In the past there was stiff competition to become nurses but not so now, he said after opening a Hemodialysis Centre here.

"Thirty years ago Malaysian girls in large numbers went as far as England for nurses training. Now there is no such enthusiasm."

"Nursing is no longer the profession of the first choice. It is not easy to look after and care for patients, they say and look for work instead in factories and offices."

Dr Chua said the shortage of nurses was acute.

"The shortage will remain a permanent feature as long as Malaysian women and men do not change their attitude towards nursing as a profession," he said.

IN KOTA BHARU, Deputy Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Latif Ahmad said the Health Ministry has set up a special committee to review qualifications and allowances for government doctors, nurses and medical workers in efforts to ensure they received commensurate renumeration based on their qualifications and duties.

He said the committee, formed last week, was headed by the ministry's newly appointed Secretary-General Datuk Ismail Adam. The committee will conduct a study on the matter and recommend proposals to the Public Service Department (JPA).

"We support more allowances for medical personnel but they depend on the agreement and approval of the JPA," he told reporters after launching the national-level TB Day at the Universiti Sains Malaysia campus, here.

He said this when asked to comment on the reluctance of the younger generation to choose nursing as their career as the ministry did not have a salary grade for nurses with degrees and they were lumped together with diploma holders.

On Wednesday, the Malaysian Nursing Association president, Dayang Annie Abang Narudin said there was now a shortage of 20,000 specialised nurses and the situation became more acute with at least 1,000 nurses either leaving the profession or going on retirement each year.

MEANWHILE in KOTA KINABALU, FOMCA urged the nursing profession in the country to strive to get not only nurses with the right qualification but also those with the right attitude.

Its President of Federation of Malaysian Consumer Associations (FOMCA) Prof Datuk Hamdan Adnan said that this could be done right at the outset when they turn up for the interview to take up nursing courses.

Nurses with the right attitude must be indentified and shortlisted from the beginning... from the interviewing stage. The interviewer should not only look at the aptitude of the candidates concerned but also their attitude as well, Hamdan told Bernama here.

Hamdan said careful selection of candidates for the nursing profession was possible because there was now a large pool of people to select from.

"Today if you called for an interview, there will surely be a large number of people turning up for it...we can shortlist them properly and train them accordingly," he said.

He concurred on the complaints against arrogant civil servants, including nurses and doctors, saying that it was nothing new.

There are those who shout at patients and did not care at all for the sick, he said.

ON the issue of usage of public funds for treatment, the MMA urged the Health Ministry to periodically publish the number and type of cases of needy patients that have been treated with public donations and the outcomes.

This would ensure that the collecting agencies and donating public were aware of the statistics, its president, Datuk Dr. N. Arumugan, said Thursday.

"We feel that this audit is essential information to enable the potential patient and the donating public to make an informed choice," he said in a statement here Thursday.

He said this in welcoming the government's move to allow the National Heath Welfare Fund to be used by all needy patients instead of only the hardcore poor and the media to collect public donations for deserving patients.

He said the media too "must take into consideration that incessant publicity and collection of funds for treatment and procedures available in government hospitals will perpetuate a negative impression and undermine public hospital confidence in the services provided."

"The undue publicity given to doctors and hospitals who are involved in these cases often contravene the Code of Medical Ethics and we feel that the MMA and the Health Ministry can assist and clarify whenever necessary," he said.