We’re ‘bleeding’ nurses, time to stem exodus, says senator

 

The 10% critical allowance nurses receive is not enough for all the work they do, says senator Dr RA Lingeshwaran.

PETALING JAYA: 

With an average of 500 nurses quitting government service annually over the last decade, a senator has called on the health ministry to enhance their salary scheme to keep them in public hospitals.

Dr RA Lingeshwaran, a former director of Sungai Bakap Hospital, said nurses are the backbone of hospitals. He said losing the experienced ones, especially to the private sector and hospitals abroad does not augur well for the country’s healthcare system.

Last week, health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad told the Dewan Negara that since 2014, 5,009 staff nurses and 769 community nurses had either opted out or resigned from government service.

Most were experienced mid-level paramedical staff employed in the U36 and U32 grade groups. Of the total, 161 nurses who left were between grades U41 and U54, 462 (from grade U36), 2,102 (grade U32), 2,284 (U28), and 769 (grades 19 to 26).

Lingeshwaran, who served in public hospitals for many years, said he could empathise with nurses whose jobs are difficult, dangerous and extremely taxing. They also have to put up with working in overcrowded hospitals where patients are subjected to long waiting periods.

Being on the frontline, nurses are required to deal tactfully with patients and relatives who are anxious, and can get angry and emotional.

This is an aspect of their jobs that goes unnoticed. Don’t forget, most of them are also mothers and wives when they go back home. Their work never ends,

 he added.

He proposed that their salary scheme be revised to include time-based promotions, like those engaged in other critical jobs, such as doctors and teachers.

For all the work that they do, Lingeshwaran said, the 10% critical allowance nurses receive is not enough to keep them in service.

“For me, they perform a national service as they have to do everything for a patient.

They should be paid much higher than others in the same category who are desk-bound and don’t have to deal with very sick patients who need all kinds of care, including personal cleanliness,

 he said.

Lingeshwaran said promotional prospects for nurses are very limited, with very few higher positions as sisters and matrons available to them. This is a major stumbling block for their career advancement, he said.

He also said that to many, the profession looks like a last resort for school leavers. That means it may not attract the best or those with a passion for the profession.

An attractive remuneration package will go a long way in luring qualified Malaysians to join the profession and keep existing nurses in service, he said. - FMT