Saturday, November 29, 2008

Budget 2009: Nursing Gets Attention

The Budget 2009 recently tabled by the Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has paid some extra attention to the nursing profession, with an allocation of RM70 million of expenditure.

The RM70 million budget is expected to bring some significant development in the health industry, as well as produce more quality and competent local nurses.

Lack of enthusiasm among the Malaysians in the nursing profession has also been a cause for concern. With the new allocation, the public interest towards the industry and profession is hoped to elevate.

The government is also hoping many of those graduating as qualified nurses will opt to stay with the public sector, instead of jumping into the private sector, which, often times, promises more lucrative deals.

More than 5,500 student nurses will be trained in various training colleges run by the Ministry of Health, while more than 2,000 others in private training institutions.

Additionally, students who graduated in science related courses can enroll for nursing training. This training, which usually runs for 3 years, will instead be shortened to one year and the half. The move is said to churn out larger number of personnel in the nursing profession as to cater for the increasing demand for nurses.

No comments: