Page 41 - Nursing Education in Malaysia

3/ tHE status of NursiNg iN Malaysia

3. Nursing must be seen by the public as active in politics, professional and financial
issues affecting healthcare and the nursing profession. Professional organizations,
for example, the Malaysian Nurses Association, Nursing Students Associations or
even Nursing Alumni Associations can be strong lobbyists in professional practice
issues which help promote professionalism.

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

In Malaysia, the governance that controls nursing practice, discipline of members,
their working conditions and their professional affairs, is the Nursing Board of Malaysia.
The Nursing Board is “positioned” in the Ministry of Health and is structured based on
the system of “ex-officio” as members. Membership is predominantly led by medical
practitioners, the chairman being the Director General of Health. The Head of Nursing at
the Ministry of Health serves as the Registrar and another a Secretary. More critical, the
board serves exclusively the interests of the Ministry of Health, irrespective of the scope of
nursing beyond this ministry.

A profession is autonomous if it regulates itself and sets standards for its members. To
be autonomous, a professional group must (a) be granted legal authority to define the scope
of its practice; (b) describe its particular functions and roles; and (c) determine its goals and
responsibilities and delivery of its service. The amount of autonomy a profesional group
possesses depends on its effectiveness at governance.

To gain this status, the Nursing Board must be an independent body that serves the
interest of the nursing profession and legal aspects of nursing practice. The chairman of
the board must rightfully be a nurse who is highly qualified and with exceptional leadership
qualities. Its members must be equally qualified in all areas of nursing practice, education
and management. This independent board must be concerned with the quality of its services
which constitutes the heart of its responsibility to the public. Through this board, nursing
must control its practice in order to guarantee the quality of its services to the public.
The more expertise required to perform the service, the greater society’s dependence upon
those who carry this out, the more powerful the profession.

This simply means that the effectiveness at governance to ensure the quality of practice
will determine the amount of autonomy nursing profesion will possess. The achievement
rests heavily on firstly, the quality of leadership and expertise of the members of the board,
and secondly, on the ratio of professional nurses (degree prepared nurses) to technical
nurses (diploma prepared nurses) to provide nursing services. The higher the ratio of

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