High Employment Draws More Men To Enroll In Nursing Programmes

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 19 (Bernama) -- More males in the country prefer to enrol in nursing programmes and pursue a career in the profession due to high employment in this sector.
This could be seen in the increasing number of men enrolling in the nursing programmes offered by 18 private nursing colleges over the years, Masterskills College of Nursing and Health chief executive officer Edmund Santhara said Tuesday.
"The main pulling factors are high employability due to the high market demand for qualified nurses and the better salaries paid by the government and private hospitals," he told Bernama Tuesday.
In addition, Santhara said, local qualified nurses, particularly males, were highly sought-after to serve in the United Kingdom, United States of America, Middle East and Australia, with lucrative salaries and benefits.
"Male nurses are more suitable to be placed at the Emergence Units at hospitals. They are mentality ready to face the daunting task of handling accident victims," he added.
Citing the example of the college's male undergraduate enrolment, Santhara said that this year alone 121 male students had taken up the programme compared with only four since the programme's inception in 2001.
He said that in line with the Health Ministry's emphasis on producing well-trained and qualified nurses locally, the college planned to recruit more male students beginning 2008.
The college's Diploma in Nursing, he said, was fully accredited by the National Accreditation Board (LAN). It is currently one of the private colleges with the largest number of nursing undergraduates, totalling 3,038 students from 4,702 students overall.
"The intrinsic value such as recognised and approved by the Public Service Department, Higher Education Ministry and Nursing Board Malaysia, are among the attractiveness that make this programme value-added," Santhara said.