KUCHING: Private hospitals have welcomed the move by the Ministry of Health (MOH) to allow the hiring of foreign trained nurses into the country.
KPJ Kuching Specialist Hospital thanked the ministry for the initiative to relax requirements to hire foreign nurses for private hospitals in Malaysia.
“Previously the MOH required that all the foreign nurses must have post-basic qualifications as one of the criteria to work in Malaysia.
“However, starting from Oct 1 this year, private health facilities in Malaysia will be allowed to hire foreign trained nurses without a post-basic qualification, according to Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa.
“As we know, a lot of our local high-quality nurses are flocking overseas such as Singapore and Middle East due to high salary scales,” said KPJ Kuching General Manager, Nurhazimah Mahat.
The relaxation of the policy is seen as a step towards improving the healthcare industry and boosting the country’s economy.
However, KPJ Kuching hoped that in order to ensure a consistent supply of nurses in the healthcare market, the MOH would be able to provide more incentives to student nurses and also nursing colleges to encourage them to go for nursing careers.
KPJ Chief Nursing Officer, Norlila Bujang said this can help overcome the shortage of nurses in Malaysia .
“However, the shortage of nurses is a global issue … this is not because we do not have enough nursing colleges or universities but nurses are going abroad to work for better salary and benefits especially to UAE or Saudi Arabia where everything is free,”she said.
“It is a good move by the MOH to allow private hospitals to hire foreign trained nurses into Malaysia to overcome the shortage of nurses in this country,” she added.
