Public Health: Malaysia’s Nursing Profession in Critical Condition

The critical issue of shortage within the nursing profession - serving both public and private hospitals - has carried over across several administrations. In February this year, then-Minister of Health Khairy Jamaluddin said MOH would conduct a detailed analysis and study on the shortage of nurses in government hospitals and clinics. Barely a week into the new administration under Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the Association of Private Hospitals flagged the severe nursing shortage in private hospitals, and called on the new Minister of Health to bring in trained foreign nurses. Is liberalisation of the nursing profession, as other countries have done, the way to go? We explore in our Public Health show. 

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