Nurses Can Go On To Become Hospital Administrators

PENANG, Aug 23 (Bernama) -- Nurses can now advance in their career to become hospital administrators following the approval of a new grade in the profession by the Public Service Commission (PSC), Parliamentary Secretary to the Health Ministry Datuk Lee Kah Choon said Tuesday.
He said the post of hospital administrator had been dominated by doctors but the recent approval of the new grade would enable nurses to move up to Grade U54, which enabled them to become hospital administrators.
"The Health Ministry strives constantly to enhance the professionalism of its staff and provides ample opportunities for them to acquire knowledge and higher academic qualifications to advance their career," he told reporters after representing Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek in handing over diplomas and excellence awards in conjunction with the convocation of the Penang Nursing College, here.
A trained nurse now starts work with a salary of about RM1,200 a month and could earn a maximum salary of RM10,000 a month, including allowances (on Grade U54), he said.
Lee said the people should be informed that nursing had a bright future.
He said trainee nurses were paid an allowance of RM621 a month and earned a salary of RM1,200 a month after graduation.
He also said that more non-Bumiputeras should be encouraged to join the profession because Bumiputeras now made up 80 per cent of the nurses in the country.
Lee said the country had 60,000 nurses with a ratio of one to 600 populations, adding that the government wanted to reduce it to 1:200 by 2020.
Earlier, Dr Chua said in his speech read out by Lee that nurses should take an active part in research and development (R&D) and present their research papers at international conferences.
"This will help nurses to develop their critical thinking skills to enhance knowledge and expertise," he said.