Times of Malta, August 20, 2010 A total 300 applications have been received from nurses to work in the public sector, Health Minister Joseph Cassar said today. He said in a statement that 50 were Maltese and they included those who had just completed their studies and others who applied to be registered yesterday. On Monday these nurses will be called to embark on their duties shortly. The other 250 applications were from foreign nurses. Half of them had already gone through the first phase of the selection process and were currently going through more detailed scrutiny. 46 of them, Pakistani, would be able to become staff nurses in the middle of next month.

Times of Malta, August 20, 2010 The Council for Nurses and Midwives said today that in spite of working with limited resources and voluntarily, it had processed 467 applications from Maltese, European and non-European nurses since January. It said in a statement that it was committed to ensure that all locally registered nurses were of the highest possible level to complement the other services offered in hospitals, health centres and other institutions. To be able to work locally, nurses needed to be registered by the council. ... Nurses

Juan Ameen, Times of Malta, August 20, 2010 Elderly patients needing specialised medical care were blocking hospital beds, leading to a long wait for beds at the emergency ward, Health Minister Joe Cassar said yesterday. “Unfortunately, there are many elderly people who are taking up beds in hospital because they have nowhere else to go,” he said. Dr Cassar was reacting to a statement by the newly-set up Emergency Nurses Union, which criticised the long wait – of up to six hours, it claimed – for patients to be given a bed in the emergency department. ... Nurses

Annaliza Borg, Malta Independent, July 2, 2010 The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses is quite irritated that it is not being involved in discussions to address shortages of nurses although it is calling the responsible minister on a daily basis informing him of worsening situations. Contacted late yesterday afternoon, Paul Pace, MUMN president said he was at a meeting at Mount Carmel to try and identify operating procedures as there is shortage of nurses while new patients had been admitted. The Malta Independent had also quoted Mr Pace saying that some 300 new nurses a year are necessary to meet local demand but only between 60 and 70 nurses will be graduating this year. ... MUMN

Times of Malta, May 4, 2010 The Malta Union of Nurses complained today over the way how the Health Department had deployed newly-recruited nurses. It said it had been the practice for new nurses to replace nurses who requested new postings, but this practice had been ignored and the nurses who requested new postings had therefore not been transferred. This development, it said, discouraged the nurses and could encourage some of them to leave.

Times of Malta, April 20, 2008 One of the reasons given for the nurses' union planned industrial action recently was the shortage of nurses. The union also implied that a reason for this shortage is the numerus clausus introduced to limit the number of students accepted at the University's Institute of Health Care (IHC). The IHC was established in 1987 to upgrade the nursing school set up at Saint Luke's Hospital in 1965. The institute's first health care course was the BSc Nursing Studies, with the first group graduating in June 1992. Other courses were launched in other health care specialisations at degree, diploma and certificate level. ... Nursing

Times of Malta, April 16, 2008 The nurses' union and the authorities yesterday held a second round of talks in a dispute over an allowance increase, with no agreement reached so far. The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses has threatened to call "harsh industrial action" on Monday unless its members receive a promised increase to their allowance with their next paycheque. The dispute revolves around the €582.34 (Lm250) annual increase in the nursing premium, which the union insists was granted to nurses and midwives in the agreement signed last October. ... Nurses

Cynthia Busuttil, Times of Malta, April 9, 2008 Nurses are all set to take "harsh industrial action" within two weeks, which would affect the running of all hospitals, unless they receive the next instalment of an allowance increase in their next pay cheque. The planned action decided yesterday and which was not divulged, would hit admissions and treatment and have an impact on all types of surgery, the president of the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses, Paul Pace told The Times. The union is determined to issue directives if no agreement is reached by April 21 ... Nurses

Times of Malta, April 8, 2008 The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses has declared an industrial dispute at Zammit Clapp Hospital and warned the government it will issue directives for industrial action by all nurses from April 21. The union said the dispute was over the failure of the Treasury to grant an increase to the nursing premium in terms of an agreement reached with the Health Department. Nurses and midwives are this year due to receive an increase of €582.34 (Lm250) on their nursing premium. ... Nurses

Times of Malta, March 31, 2007
The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses has elected a new president, Paul Pace, who takes over from Rudolph Cini. Maria Cutajar is vice president and Colin Galea is secretary. The general secretary is George Saliba, Raymond Chetcuti is financial secretary and Raymond Chetcuti, Lora Pullicino, Chris Azzopardi, Rowland Bezzina, Corinne Ward and Aaron Tonna are members.

MUMN orders industrial actions as from Wednesday morning. Kurt Farrugia, maltaStar.com, February 13, 2007 The nurses and midwives’ union (MUMN) is in dispute with the health authorities due to the tensions being caused by the difficult conditions that nurses and patients are facing at the St Luke’s casualty department. The MUMN was constrained to ordered industrial actions at the crucial emergency service department on Wednesday 14 February. ... Saint