Local
MUMN calls for Institute of Health Care inquiry
By MaltaMedia News
Jul 29, 2007 - 5:49:07 PM

The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses (MUMN) is calling on the Ministries of Education and Health to authorise an inquiry and investigate the system by which the Institute of Health Care is conducting the courses for student nurses.

The union has shown its concern following the final results of student nurses published a few weeks ago, in which 53 students failed out of the total 130 candidates. The course is four years long and the fact that just under half the students failed is unacceptable, the union said.

The MUMN claimed that a serious and reliable system should ensure that student nurses receive a holistic preparation. Student nurses should be assessed through out the four-year course, resulting in a minimum number of failures.  The students should be monitored throughout the course so as to be prepared adequately to reach the desired level. The union concludes that the current system adopted by the Institute of Health Care is defective. This emerges from the fact that there were a number of failures in every subject.

The student nurses’ results will definitely cause problems in the migration processes from the hospitals. The number of nurses needed for the migration process to the new hospital, for the project at the Zammit Clapp Hospital and that at the St. Vincent De Paule home totals to 200. According to MUMN, even if all the students had passed their exams there still would have been a problem with numbers let alone now that 53 out of the total 130 students failed. The union said that this year it had been hoping that the number of students to succeed in their studies would be high since the need for nurses is instrumental for the Mater Dei Hospital to operate successfully.

The MUMN said it had been drawing the situation to the authorities' attention regarding the revision of the current system for quite some time now.   The union claimed that even in the past, certain episodes had arisen which raise doubts about how well the students are being prepared in order to pass their final exams.