Nurses could in future run hospitals

Star: KOTA KINABALU: Senior nurses could one day take over the running and managing of hospitals from doctors when they acquire enough managerial and leadership skills.
Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said recent studies showed that about half of the nursing matrons and a third of nursing sisters had post-basic management training.
“The days when nurses are doctors’ hand-maidens are long gone. Nurses and doctors are now partners in the provision of healthcare,” he said here yesterday.
Noting that 83% of matrons were making ward rounds once a week while 80% of nursing sisters were seeing their patients in the wards daily, Dr Chua said senior nursing staff needed to rectify and improve the situation.
Dr Chua said his ministry was determined to achieve a ratio of one staff nurse to 200 people by the year 2020.
There are currently 60,000 nurses in Malaysia, he said, adding that 174,000 more were needed in the next 14 years.