KUALA LUMPUR: IN 2005 to 2010, with the mushrooming of nursing schools in the country, concern was expressed over a glut of nurses being churned out in the healthcare sector, with as many as 10,000 students graduating each year. This prompted the Malaysian Nursing Board to announce new regulations in August 2010 which increased nursing entry requirements to five credits to stem the tide of new nurses. Ironically, the measure has been so effective that the shrinking number of candidates pursuing the vocation is a very real challenge faced by the industry today. “Previously, when the requirements to pursue nursing were only three credits, everybody jumped on the bandwagon and we had as many as 10,000 students coming out each year. Once the number of credits was increased from three to five, there was a vast drop in intakes for nursing. “ Now, there are less than 3,000 nurses graduating yearly.
“Many colleges which offered nursing courses closed down, resulting in fewer nurses being trained,” says Ng Kok Toh, head of nursing programmes at International Medical College in Subang Jaya.
This is an excerpt from an article in New Straits Times on 1 January 2017. Read the full article at http://www.nst.com.my/news/2017/01/201014/will-malaysia-face-shortage-nurses-2020 or in NST – Shortage of nurses More information on IMC’s Diploma in Nursing
