Government nurses not up to par

Star: SHAH ALAM: The quality of nursing in public hospitals has deteriorated to a worrying level, said Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek.
“It can't be denied that this forms the bulk of complaints received by the ministry at all levels and I, too, am aware that patients are not happy,” he said after launching the International Nurses Day function here yesterday themed “Safe Staffing Saves Lives.”
The ministry has outlined several measures to improve the standard of service by public-sector nurses, who now number about 28,000.
Dr Chua said that by the end of this year, fresh nursing graduates would be required to undergo a mandatory one-year internship programme before they could receive their annual practising certificates.
The internship would cover the main areas of medicine, surgery, gynaecology and paediatrics.
A mentor system in wards is also being planned whereby senior staff nurses, sisters and matrons would act as mentors to junior nurses and trainees to help them improve their knowledge, attitude and skills.
The mentorship would be held in collaboration with a foreign university.
“There could also be a review of the entire nursing curriculum to make it more suitable to the current situation,” Dr Chua added.
He said the annual practising certificates would no longer be renewed automatically.
“If there are complaints against a nurse, she will be called up for investigation by the Nursing Board. Only then will a decision be made on whether the certificate will be renewed,” he added.
Dr Chua said the quality of nursing was poor because of a lack of or ineffective communication between nurses and patients, the irresponsible attitude of some nurses who were not friendly, caring or sensitive to patients' needs and the lack of skills and knowledge.
“We hear of nurses going about their work in an indifferent and unfriendly manner, of nurses scolding or sneering at women in painful labour and of nurses asking bed-bound patients to help themselves with the urinals and bedpans,” he added.
“We have also heard of nurses carrying out wrong treatment orders on the wrong patients at the wrong time or in the wrong manner.
“The first thing to do is to insist that matrons and nursing sisters do their supervisory rounds several times a day to ensure that patients are well taken care of and that the nurses and trainees are doing their jobs properly,” he said.