Princess nurses world-class goal

NST: KUALA LUMPUR: Perak princess Raja Datuk Seri Azureen Sultan Azlan Shah yesterday became the first president of Masterskill College of Nursing and Health, a private higher education institution.
The princess said there was a lack of awareness of the importance of the role played by healthcare professionals such as nurses.
As president of the college, she hoped to instil pride in the students in their chosen vocation and to emphasise that it was not a second-class profession.
Raja Azureen said there was a critical shortage of nurses worldwide and the college was geared to train world-class nurses who can serve internationally.
Raja Azureen is also the president of the Malaysian National Society for the Deaf and patron for the Riding for the Disabled and Friends of the National Library.
College chief executive officer Edmund Santhara said the college aimed to make nursing a "brand" by exporting qualified, respected and admired nurses to the rest of the world.
"Malaysia has the right ingredients to produce top-notch nurses who can serve anywhere in the world, given our diverse cultures and multi religions and languages.
"We want to be on the world map, the Top 10 in providing healthcare professionals in the world by 2010.
"We are paradigm shifters. If there are not enough hospitals in Malaysia to train nurses, we send them overseas," Santhara said.
The first batch of trainees were sent to the Chettinad Institute of Research Hospital, Chennai, in India, for three months recently for their practical training.
The 1,200-bed hospital was the most high-tech in southern India, Santhara said.
He said the Sultan Azlan Shah Foundation had donated a 100ha piece of land between Jelapang and Chemor for the building of a campus.
The college has applied to upgrade to a university and is awaiting approval from the Ministry of Higher Education.
The Masterskill College of Nursing and Health offers three-year diploma courses in nursing, physiotherapy, medical imaging, pharmacy, environmental health, medical laboratory technology and health care.