It appears that Johor is having a severe shortage of nurses, leading the state government to arrange for a meeting with Health Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin, in the near future to discuss the matter.
Apparently, they have a shortage of between 15,000 to 18,000 nurses in Johor.
Based on a report by Sinar Harian, Johor State Exco for Health and Unity, Ling Tian Soon, shared that among the reasons for the shortage is that many are choosing to migrate to work in the Singaporean health services sector.
“They get better offers. We don’t have specific statistics on how many of our nurses and doctors work in Singapore but the number is growing every year”,
“We also expect more people to go to work in Singapore because the Ringgit is depreciating at the moment. Even so, I believe many nurses still want to work in this country. It is understood that one of the reasons our nurses work in Singapore is because they receive a salary similar to the salary of a specialist doctor in Malaysia when the currency is exchanged“, he said.
He shared the news following the officiation of the Johor State Nurses’ day Celebration Ceremony at the Persada International Convention Center on Thursday (19 May).
Tian Soon went on to explain that the ratio of 1 nurse at present is for 297 patients, as compared to the supposed ratio of 1 nurse for 200 patients.
In order to overcome the insufficient number of existing nurses, he emphasised that he will meet with Khairy to discuss methods and offers.
What do you think about this? Let us know in the comment section.
Also read: S’pore Business Owners Experience Drops In Sales After M’sian Workers Returned Home
