Two colleges warned

Star: PUTRAJAYA: Two out of the 15 private and public colleges offering nursing courses have been found to be using substandard syllabus.
They also do not have enough lecturers and tutors.
“We have visited the two colleges and have given them a warning to buck up,” said Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad.
“We will also carry out surprise checks on other colleges to ensure they offer proper nursing courses,” he told reporters after witnessing the signing of a memorandum of agreement between the ministry and three colleges – Mara’s Poly-Tech Colleges, Universiti Kuala Lumpur’s Royal College of Medicine Perak and Universiti College Sedaya International – here yesterday.
The memorandum of agreement allows nursing students from the colleges to be trained at government hospitals and clinics.
Dr Abdul Latiff warned that substandard nursing colleges might face closure, as the ministry wanted only quality and dedicated nurses to serve the healthcare industry.
“This is crucial as the public would be affected if nurses are not properly trained and educated.
“It is our aim to produce quality staff for the medical and healthcare services for not only the country but also for the industry in other parts of the world,” he said.
Dr Abdul Latiff said 8,000 nurses would be trained over the next 10 years, adding that the aim was to reduce nurse-patient ratio from one nurse serving 600 patients to 1:200.
“We are also trying to encourage more men to take up the job,” he said, adding that there were now 200 to 300 male nurses.
“There is also a need to change the mindset that nursing is only confined to clinics and hospitals. The healthcare industry today is very diverse,” he added.
Regarding the agreement signed with the three colleges, Dr Abdul Latiff said it would help students gain invaluable experience as government hospitals provided a good training ground.