Minister of Health Ahmed Naseem has stated efforts are underway to provide more opportunities for nurses to participate in policymaking decisions at health service centres. He made the statement at the Nurses in the Maldives forum held by Community Nurse Volunteers.
Speaking at the forum, Minister Naseem noted the services provided by nurses is essential to health service centres and it has become a reality following the COVID-19 pandemic. He emphasised the need to increase the number of health workers to overcome a similar health crisis and said increasing salaries for health workers is a key step towards meeting the end.
The minister also said he will also focus on increasing the educational and training opportunities for nurses. He noted nurses are not receiving enough recognition and financial compensation for their work, and that not enough steps have been taken to safeguard their health.
Additionally, Minister Naseem said many health service centres are lacking nurses despite Maldives National University (MNU) training 1,000 nurses each year. He said the Maldives faced challenges in overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic due to the lack of nurses. He detailed there are currently 2,913 nurses in the country, and that 42% are foreign workers.
The purpose of the forum was to address the challenges faced by nurses and find solutions. The forum highlighted key issues concerning the lack of representation of nurses in national-level policymaking, training, and healthcare service provisions.