Litia Rabua Tukunia 
The Health Ministry at some point will have to explore the possibility of recruiting nurses from overseas.
Permanent Secretary Dr James Fong says this will in one way address the current issue of nurse shortages in the country.
Dr Fong says they have managed to employ nursing assistance to curb the issue; however, a lot more needs to be done.
Permanent Secretary for Health Dr James Fong says the Ministry is lacking manpower in the field of nursing.
“We will have to at some point explore the possibility of bringing nurses from other countries but we would like to do that with all the partners who are important in making this kind of initiative work.”
However, FNU College of Medicine Dean Dr William May claims that the lack of infrastructure is a limitation for recruiting new nurses.
Dr May says Fiji has the resources and capability to train qualified nurses locally.
The College of Medicine, Nursing, and Health Sciences recruits 500 new students annually to undergo a nursing program, but this is still insufficient to cater for the growing number of patients in hospitals as well as replacements for outgoing nurses.
