KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 31 — A nursing association has renewed its protest against the increase of three working hours to a 45-hour work week for nurses in the public service.
The Delegation of Nurses (DON) warned the government that increased workloads for nurses without appropriate compensation will drive more nurses to emigrate overseas or to leave for the private sector in Malaysia.
“This will affect the Malaysia Nursing Board’s efforts to maximise nursing intakes, despite lowering the criteria for entry into nursing to merely three SPM credits from the previous criteria of five credits,” DON said in a statement yesterday, citing a Ministry of Health (MOH) circular.
DON described Malaysia as being a “backward” country with a 45-hour work week for nurses that is longer than other countries, such as Singapore (minimum 38 hours to maximum 42 hours), Indonesia (40 hours), and the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS) with 38.5 hours.
The nurses’ group highlighted the impact of a 45-hour work week for nurses, including higher operational costs to the government due to an increase in overtime claims; mental pressures and burnout; disrupted work-life balance; and reduced quality of health care services.
“Any new policy must be sustainable and must not discriminate against certain professions. The welfare of nurses must be given serious consideration so that the country’s health care system can continue to function well and efficiently.”
Last Friday, the Cabinet halted the Waktu Bekerja Berlainan (WBB) shift system for medical and dental officers and specialists that had been planned for a February 1 pilot in select hospital units, following fierce backlash from doctors across the service and both government and Opposition lawmakers.
Many people commenting on Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad’s statement about the Cabinet decision, which was posted on the MOH’s Facebook page, demanded a rollback of the 45-hour work week for nurses.
“Fight for nurses too. Remember, the MOH system in Malaysia will collapse without nurses,” one person wrote in a comment.
Even though six nursing associations previously protested the 45-hour work week for government nurses under the Sistem Saraan Perkhidmatan Awam (SSPA), the new shift system went into effect last December 1.
CodeBlue understands that the MOH’s nursing and human resources divisions held a nine-hour town hall at the ministry’s Putrajaya headquarters last January 20 on the 45-hour work week for nurses.
Dzulkefly reportedly told the Dewan Negara last December 12 that the decision to increase nurses’ working hours from 42 to 45 hours a week had undergone multiple rounds of engagement, including with seven trade unions and nurses’ associations.
