The
shortage of nurses in the country could seriously hamper the
government’s
effort to provide quality medical services to the public if it is not
addressed
soon.
Health Minister, Dr.
Chua Soi Lek said that the
nation needed 170,000 nurses by 2020 but only 45,000 qualified nurses
are
serving in both the public and private sector throughout the
country.
At
the current rate of one nurse to 645 patients, Malaysia is still very
far to
reaching the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended rate of one
nurse to
about 200 patients.
To make matters
worst, a recent study by the Ministry of Health showed that the rate
of
failures among trainees in the Ministry’s 18 nursing colleges and 20
private
colleges offering nursing programme in the country is alarmingly high.
To
meet the target of 130,000 nurses by 2020, Malaysia need to produce
about 8,000
nursing graduates a year but it seems that we are producing only about
2,000
nursing graduates a year due to the high failure
rate.
In
Sarawak, the nursing colleges produced less than 200 qualified nurses
a
year. Out of the ??
trainees that
enrolled with the government nursing colleges each year, only ?? percent passed their
examinations to
qualify as certified nurses.
This
figure is obtained from a special study made on the reasons for the
high
failure rate among nursing trainees in the ministry’s 18 nursing
colleges. About 2000
trainees are enrolled with the
Ministry’s 18 colleges and 1,000 in the private colleges offering
nursing
programme.
Low Passing
Rates
The
pass rate in 2002 for the Ministry’s 18 nursing colleges was 56%,
rising to 81
per cent in 2003 and dropping to 44 per cent last year. In Sarawak, the ?? nursing colleges
recorded
an average pass rate of ?? in the last two
years.
The
private sector, however, is doing a lot better. The pass rate was 71 per cent in
2002, 96% in 2003 and 98% last
year.
Attributing
Factors
The
study also revealed several attributing factors to this alarming
trend. Dr. Chua said that
the poor performance
among the trainees in the ministry’s nursing colleges could be
attributed to
low academic requirements at entry level especially. Trainees could qualify for the
ministry’s 3 –year diploma nursing
programme with a pass in
English and
credits in Bahasa Malaysia, mathematics one science subject. Compared to the same programme
offered by
the private institutions, a three –year programme costs about RM30,000
and
nursing students are required to have credits in all subjects including
all the
sciences’ subjects. Despite
the
“advantages” the students from the private sector are doing much better
than
the government trainees are also paid a monthly allowance of
RM621.
Secondly,
he said, the attitude of the tutors themselves may need improvement.
The study
also revealed that the tutors in the government’s colleges were not as
committed and dedicated as the ones in the private
sector.
Thirdly, he revealed, the
tutors in the
government colleges do not prepare their students well enough for
examinations. Because of
this, he
added, failure rate among them is very
high.
Proposed
Suggestions
According
to Chua, there may be a need overhaul the nursing training system to
ensure
equal composition among the major races and increase trainee intakes
among the
Chinese and Indians. It is
also
suggested that perhaps the RM621 allowance be converted to loans to
boost
examination performances. Nursing college facilities may need major
improvement
and to increase the number schools offering the nursing programme, the
National
Accreditation Board (LAN) should speed up accreditation process of
private
nursing programme.
