With Macau facing a critical shortage of specialist nurses, the government should provide paid study leave for nurses and allocate more resources to community nursing, Nurses Association of Macau (NAOM) Chairperson Che Sio Ieng said on the sidelines of a symposium yesterday.
The one-day symposium, themed “The Power of Nursing to Keep Changing the World,” was held at The Plaza Restaurant in Nape. The symposium was hosted by International Council of Nurses (ICN) Chief Executive Officer Howard Catton, who spoke about how health systems can make nursing a career people want to enter and stay in, the role of international recruitment, and why investment in nurses matters to patients and families.
Che noted that nursing in Macau is divided into two categories: general nurses and specialist nurses. General nurses are responsible for routine clinical care, whereas specialist nurses deliver targeted care for specific diseases and organs across areas such as geriatrics and palliative care, she said.
In order to qualify for specialist nurse training, candidates must possess three years of clinical experience as a general nurse, followed by a 2.5- to 3-year training cycle, Che said, adding that constrained by limited teaching faculty and resources, only one to two new specialist training programmes can be added each year.
Meanwhile, the specialist nurses supply gap remains substantial. Although no official statistics are available, Che suggested the government provide paid study leave for enrolled nurses, with training priorities aligned with societal needs to ease the financial burden of full-time study, she said.
Moreover, according to Che, Macau currently has 4.4 nurses per 1,000 people, trailing neighbouring regions and countries such as Hong Kong and Singapore, which range between 5 and 7.
In line with the ICN philosophy of prioritising quality over quantity, experts advise against blind expansion, Che said, adding that, instead, the focus should remain on matching talent with job requirements. She also advised the government to increase resource allocation—particularly to address the talent deficit in community nursing.
Nurses Association of Macau Chairperson Che Sio Ieng speaks to reporters on the sidelines of yesterday’s one-day symposium, themed “The Power of Nursing to Keep Changing the World,” at The Plaza Restaurant in Nape. – Photo: Ida Cheong
