Nurses' union stands by EFN call not to poach nurses from developing countries

Nurses' union president Paul Pace today defended the European Federation of Nurses (EFN) from accusations by the health ministry of "inaccurate and misleading" information.

Pace said that nurses in other European countries would not be attracted to Malta to work due to poor comparative salaries, leaving the doors only open to nurses from the third world, which is why the highest denomination of nurses employed so far have been from Pakistan – 46 out of a total of 300.

The EFN is against poaching from developing countries as it worsens the health care situation in the country nurses originate from.

Pace said the EFN have been aware of the situation of nurses' employment conditions in Malta for the past seven years. General Secretary of EFN Paul de Raeve has been to Malta on a number of occasions to assess the situation and will be coming on further visits to meet with the nurses themselves in the wards.

Whilst the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses is not against the employment of foreign nurses in the short term, Pace stressed the need for "unlimited education" of Maltese nurses. He is calling for the removal of the numerus clausus on university courses in nursing, which this year has limited the intake for new nursing candidates.