Page 52 - Nursing Education in Malaysia

NursiNg EducatioN iN Malaysia

4. A Nursing Database is a necessary tool to ensure current demographic profile of
practicing and non-practicing nurses in the country, and since the Ministry of Health
has easy access to such profile, the Ministry’s Nursing Division should be entrusted
with initiating and maintaining the database.

agenda Six

By 2020, the composition of the nursing profesion in Malaysia be shared between
registered nurses of two levels: Level 1 comprising nurses with Bachelor of Nursing to be
known as Professional Nurses; and Level 2 comprising nurses with Diploma in Nursing
to be known as Diploma Nurses. The roles of both levels will differ in both functions and
responsibilities.

Strategies
1. The Ministry of Health and all relevant nursing service organizations must include a
plan to ensure that the highest quality of care be provided to meet consumer needs,
advances in medicine, nursing and education, and to ensure nursing’s participation in
the growth of the Malaysian economy, and to do so in the following manner:

(a) All priority areas of patient care which require collaborative and independent
decision making must be staffed by professional nurses. These areas include:
all critical care services (Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Critical Care Unit (CCU),
Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU),
Burn Centre, Emergency Room, Trauma Centre and Delivery suite); extended
programmes requiring independent decision making such as Home Care
Services, Day Care Surgery, Infection Control and Prevention Programme, Pain
Management Programme and all Community Health Programmes.

(b) Less priority areas ie. Areas that can tolerate a “staff mix” of degree and diploma
nurses with or without specialization must be staffed by both professional and
diplomas nurses. These areas include: Adult general care (medical, surgical,
obstetrics and gynaecology) and paediatric services.

(c) All non-patient care areas must be adequately staffed by registered nurses
prepared at minimum the diploma level. These areas include: Specialist Centre
Services, Operating Rooms and Centralized Sterile Supply Unit (CSSU).

2. Nursing service organizations must define nursing practice standards to include the
following definitions:

(a) Patient care areas are those areas that admit and discharge patients where
needs must be assessed, problems identified and whose care must be planned,