KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 — The placement of nurses outside their home states is one of the reasons some choose to leave serving the Health Ministry (MOH), said its deputy minister Lukanisman Awang Sauni.
He said some left the service because the offer was not to their expectations.
"For example, many assume that becoming a government nurse means being stationed in their hometowns, especially those from Kelantan, Terengganu, Sabah, and Sarawak.
"We are also facing a shortage of nurses in Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Johor, and Selangor," he said.
Lukanisman was responding to Kuala Nerus MP Datuk Alias Razak's query on whether the nurses' workload was a contributing factor as to why many of them left the service.
He added that the situation posed a challenge for the MOH, as nurse placements are determined based on the needs of each state.
Approximately 1,754 nurses left their service with MOH over the past five years, with 27.98 per cent of them due to personal problems.
Regarding the 14,771 vacancies at the MOH as of December 31 last year, Lukanisman said they were not posted at current facilities.
"The vacancies are at new facilities, for example, a (health) project that is 85 per cent complete, " he said.
In response to a question by Pulai MP Suhaizan Kaiat regarding the percentage of nursing positions that have been filled, Lukanisman said 88 per cent of the 79,814 posts had been filled.
As of December 31, 70,229 nurses are serving with the MOH, with 69,114 of them as permanent staff.
He said 582 nurses quit their jobs last year.
— Bernama
