Page 40 - Nursing Education in Malaysia

NursiNg EducatioN iN Malaysia

NurSINg autoNoMy

Someone describes nursing as “powerless, apolitical and disorganized, swept along with
change, able only to react and not to control” (Anonymous as cited by Stephan G. Wright,
1989). In so many dimensions, the description fits nursing in Malaysia like a glove.

Worldwide, nursing is considered a profession because it has the following
characteristics:

1. It requires an extended education for its members as well as a basic liberal
foundation;

2. It has a theoretical body of knowledge leading to defined skills, abilities and norms;

3. It provides a specific service;

4. Members have autonomy in decision making and practice; and

5. It has a code of ethics for practice.
(Potter & Perry, 2009).

At a glance, nursing in Malaysia seems to have met all the five characteristics. But,
how does one explain the fact that the Government of Malaysia has classified nursing as
a sub-profession, where almost 98.8% of its members receive a starting salary of U29,
and where the majority retire at below U36/37, far below the professional group salary of
U41.

Nursing as a profession has been classified as a support service within the government
service structure and nurses, as a group, have been referred to as a sub-profesional group,
no matter how well-paid or well qualified some of them are. In reality, while nurses in
many countries in the world enjoy the professional status, nursing in Malaysia must fulfill
a number of conditions before its members can enjoy the same status. Notably, Malaysian
nurses as a group and Malaysian nursing as an organization does not have autonomy in
decision making and practice (the four characteristic). This is because of three major
th
reasons:
1. To be autonomous, the group must have effective governance, which is the
establishment and maintenance of social, political and economic arrangements
by which practitioners control their practice, their self-discipline, their working
conditions and their professional affairs.

2. Autonomy is an essential element of profesional nursing. There are independent
nursing interventions that nurses must initiate without medical orders.

3