JOHOR BARU: Close to 4,000 contract nurses that have been serving under the Health Ministry since the Covid-19 pandemic will be given permanent positions, says Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
He added that this involved some 1,136 contract nurses from the ministry’s training institute and another 2,804 from private institutions.
“Between the fourth quarter of this year and the first quarter of next year, we will give permanent positions to 1,136 Grade U29 contract nurses from our training institute.
“The same goes for 2,804 contract nurses from private institutions who are still serving the Health Ministry through the Public Services Commission (PSC). The appointment will be done in phases,” he added.
He said this to pressmen after officiating the 25th Joint Malaysia-Singapore Nursing Conference held at a hotel here on Thursday.
Khairy, who is the Rembau MP, added that over 3,000 contract nurses were appointed by the ministry during the pandemic.
“Most of them have been absorbed into the ministry, and some have left. So, these are the balance,” he said.
Khairy added that the ministry would also be promoting a total of 110 nurses with bachelor’s degrees in nursing recognised by the government to Grade U42.
“This involves 50 Grade U32 nurses and 60 Grade U36 nurses. The offer will be made on Oct 17. On top of that, a total of 49 Grade U41, U42, and U44 positions will be filled through the PSC in the first half of 2023,” he said.
He added that the ministry aimed to make some 226 positions involving Grade U41, U42, and U44 nurses available between 2023 and 2025.
“This does not include the other 7,434 Grade U29, U32, and U36 nurse positions we hope to also make available during the same period,” he said.
On another matter, Khairy said that the ministry has appealed to the Public Service Department to make amendments to the grade of community nurses who have completed their PSL (Peningkatan Secara Lantikan) nursing diploma.
“There are 1,406 community nurses with U19 Grade who have completed and passed their PSL diploma but have yet to be offered Grade U29.
“As such, the ministry has made an appeal to make way for some flexibility by changing the U19 grade to U19/U29. The amendment is to allow community nurses with PSL to be given permanent positions and fill in empty posts.
“We plan to fill in the 2,775 vacant community nurse positions with graduates from the ministry’s training institute or from private institutions if the appeal for the U19/U29 Grade is approved,” he added.
On a related matter, Khairy said that the government is also looking into making the PSL nursing diploma more accessible to encourage more community nurses to take it up.
“Currently, the diploma is done full-time for one year. To encourage more nurses to take it up, we are looking into conducting it in phases and adopting the distance learning concept,” he said.
He also mentioned that the initiatives are intended to help the government retain nurses and reduce labour shortages in the profession. He said that the ratio of patients to nurses in Malaysia is one nurse for every 297 patients.
