The Royal Civil Service Commission has approved the recruitment of 145 foreign nurses for the Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital. Additionally, approval to recruit three foreign anaesthetists was also given. Similarly, to fill the acute shortage of nurses in the country, the government plans to recruit more nurses from within the country in July.
The health ministry said that there is a shortage of about 700 nurses across the country at the moment. The national referral hospital alone is short of around 400 nurses.
According to the director of the National Medical Services, nurses at the national referral hospital work extended hours.
The director said that nurses were also recruited on contract to solve the shortage.
“Once we recruit 145 nurses, we will distribute them to the departments that are critically in need of nurses. With this, we are expecting to improve the quality of care in our service delivery,” said Dr Kuenzang Wangdi, the director of the department of clinical services under the Ministry of Health.
The health ministry is expecting nurses who left the system to rejoin on contract. Although it is not certain when this will happen.
Doctor Kuenzang Wangdi added that the foreign nurses will be recruited once the finance ministry approves the budget.
The doctor said that these foreign nurses will recruited for two years and will be paid based on seniority ranging between 800 to 1,000 US dollars.
According to the National Medical Services, voluntary resignation and nurses going on extraordinary leave led to a shortage of nurses.
Officials from the National Medical Services said that the shortage of doctors is not as acute of nurses.
Today, there are around 6,000 health workers in the country with around 1,000 working at the national referral hospital.
Namgay Dema
Edited by Sherub Dorji
