SARAWAK needs more nurses for acute and specialised care as well as for placement in rural clinics.

Deputy Premier Dr Sim Kui Hian said currently, the nurse services ratio is 3.16 per 1,000 residents based on Sarawak’s population of 2,907,500 people in 2020.

He said the ratio is far lower than that of most developing countries, which is eight nurses per 1,000 residents.

“Currently, 93.86%, or 6,146 trained nurse positions out of 6,548 positions, offered under the Sarawak Health Department have been filled,” he said during the opening of the 2023 Sarawak Nursing Conference in Sibu today.

In his speech read by Bukit Asek assemblyman Joseph Chieng, Sim said only 1,874 community nurse positions have been filled out of the 2,875 available vacancies.

Dr Sim, who is also state public health, housing and local government minister, said nurses in Sarawak lack opportunities for senior-level promotions, and even if they are promoted, they have to serve in the peninsula and be separated from their families.

In that regard, he hopes the Health Ministry will consider creating more senior nursing positions in Sarawak to allow senior nurses to remain home and serve the state.

Another important issue is the shortage of nurses in rural areas following a stop in the recruitment and training of JMs since 2015 as well as the delay in upgrading JM posts to trained nurses, he said.

“JMs who have attended training to become trained nurses more than two years ago have yet to be appointed to the position,” he said. – Bernama, March 10, 2023.