Ministry approves recruitment of 1,500 expat nurses

According to a newly released Ministry of Health (MoH) study, nurses form the largest body of employees in the ministry, with 12,420 nurses, 914 of them Kuwaiti, currently being registered with it. The study, which looked into staff distribution in the MoH, found that the Sabah Directorate employed the largest number of nurses, 4,975, with the other nursing staff being employed at various hospitals and health facilities across the remaining directorates.

It reported that 284 non-Kuwaiti nurses and 32 Kuwaiti nurses have recently resigned, while a further 1,717 non-Kuwaiti nurses and 71 Kuwaiti nurses have recently been recruited by the ministry. On the subject of recruitment, Dr. Yousef Al-Nisf, the Deputy Health Minister and Assistant for Supportive Medical Services Affairs, said that the Civil Service Commission has recently approved the appointment of 2,000 new non-Kuwaiti medical staff to work in new medical centers, 1,500 of them nurses, with the oth
er 500 to be employed in various medical specialty posts. He also revealed that the number of male nurses being recruited has risen in recent years, reported Al-Watan.

Dr. Al-Nisf said that the problem of nurses resigning from ministry posts had presented a predicament for the MoH, leading it to increase nursing staff numbers to ensure no shortages occurred. The deputy health minister also stated that the payment of financial expenses for nursing personnel needs to be enforced by the cabinet and the CSC through the introduction of a financial body specifically for that purpose, in order to reduce the number of nurses resigning.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health announced that it will pay bonuses to its employees, which has already been deposited at the Central Bank. The decision was made official following the approval of Education Minister Dr. Moudhi Al-Humoud, who is the current Acting Health Minister.

These bonuses will be paid to employees whose names have been included in a previously-prepared list, reported Al-Watan. However, employees who have already resigned from services, in addition to those who were promoted recently, will be excluded. A total sum of KD 3,761,255 has been set aside for this purpose.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Commerce plans to follow suit and pay bonuses to employees on July 28. It will range between 1,550 to 700 per employee. An administrator will receive a bonus of KD 1,550 while supervisors will be receive KD 1,300. The heads of departments will receive KD 1,100 each. Other employees will be paid KD 700 each.

Source: KuwaitTimes.net