By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, March 3: The placement of some nurses outside their home states is one of the key factors leading them to resign from the Ministry of Health (MOH).
According to the national news agency Bernama, MOH deputy minister Dato Lukanisman Awang said this situation arises when nurses feel that the job offers do not align with their preferences.
“For instance, many assume that when they work as government nurses, they will be placed in their hometowns, such as in popular states like Kelantan, Terengganu, Sabah, and Sarawak.
“However, we are also facing a shortage of nurses in states like Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Johor, and Selangor,” he said in response to a supplementary question from Datuk Dr Alias Razak (Perikatan Nasional (PN)-Kuala Nerus) regarding the workload burden on nurses that has led to resignations.
Lukanisman noted that this poses a challenge for MOH, as placements are made based on the needs of states experiencing shortages.
He revealed that 1,754 nurses had left MOH over the past five years, with 27.98 per cent citing personal reasons.
Responding to a question about the 14,771 vacant positions in MOH as of December 31, Lukanisman clarified that these vacancies were not within existing facilities.
“These vacancies were created for new facilities. For instance, when a healthcare project reaches 85 per cent completion, we begin the process of requesting positions for the facility,” he explained.
In response to Suhaizan Kaiat (Pakatan Harapan (PH)-Pulai) regarding the percentage of nursing positions filled, Lukanisman stated that overall, MOH’s nurse staffing had reached 88 per cent of the total 79,814 positions available.
As of December 31, a total of 70,229 nurses were serving in MOH, comprising 69,114 permanent staff and 821 interim contract hires.
The deputy health minister added that the 88 percent staffing level includes nurses serving in hospitals, health clinics, medical institutions, MOH training institutes, and MOH headquarters.
Lukanisman also disclosed that 582 nurses resigned from MOH last year, citing reasons such as joining the private sector, placement issues, following their spouses, shift work schedules, and health concerns affecting themselves or their families. — DayakDaily
