300 nursing students needed every year to meet demand

The nurses' union is worried about the "dubious qualifications" of Pakistani nurses expected to be employed in Malta while urging the University to accept all those applying for nursing courses.

The president of the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses, Paul Pace said 300 students had to follow nursing courses every year if Malta were to keep up with the demand of increasing services.

But a University spokesman said 163 students would be accepted for both the diploma and degree courses this year. These include 23 mature students who applied last year.

Last year, a number of applicants were turned away because the University could not cater for them, raising the ire of the union, which insisted every applicant having the necessary qualifications should have been enrolled in view of the dire shortage of nurses.

According to Mr Pace, the country needs another 700 nurses, noting that 30 out of the 165 students admitted to diploma and degree courses last year had already dropped out.

Mr Pace said the union was accepting the employment of foreign nurses because the situation was extremely dire, with established staff complements not being respected due to the shortage. He said the government would have problems implementing planned reforms, including in primary care, unless the number of nurses increased.

"The government opened applications to foreign nationals and about 40 Pakistanis applied. We cannot say no to them because of the problems but we have doubts about their qualifications," he said, adding that problems could crop up due to language, cultural and religious differences.

Asked why the MUMN was not vociferously opposing their recruitment if it was unhappy with their qualifications, Mr Pace said the shortage meant nurses had problems taking leave, established staff complements were not respected and patients were suffering.

He said there were between three and four nurses in Mater Dei Hospital wards rather than the stipulated eight while the Intensive Therapy Unit was operating with one nurse per three patients rather than one nurse per patient. Moreover, there was only one nurse with every 45 elderly residents at St Vincent de Paul during the night.

A Health Ministry spokesman said the government sought to recruit qualified nurses and the professional qualifications of each candidate were reviewed on an individual basis by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, an autonomous entity made up of professional and academic authorities in the field.

Mr Pace said the union was also concerned that, because the foreign nurses could not speak Maltese, they would be given coveted specialisation posts while Maltese nurses would have to work with elderly patients.

"Studies have shown that 70 per cent of patients speak in Maltese in emergencies," he said, adding that the union was also worried about the foreign nurses' level of English and their accent.

The ministry spokesman said postings were not related to the languages spoken by a nurse.

Mr Pace insisted that employing foreign nurses could only be a short-term measure until the country trained enough locals. Furthermore, all applicants should be admitted to nursing courses.

The University spokesman said that last year the University and the government had to increase resources to cater for the 160 students, which were increased from 100.

She said one of the main issues was the limited number of placements in hospitals, which were an integral part of the course, and had to be fulfilled by all healthcare students according to Malta's rigorous standards and those of the EU.

Mr Pace said the union called on Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi to set up a task force, with officials from the MUMN and the education and health ministries, to discuss what was needed to accept all students.

A spokesman for Dr Gonzi said the University and the ministry had been working to maximise the number of students who could be admitted to nursing courses every year.