He said this was because Malaysian nurses received attractive offers from Singapore.

The increase in the number of hospitals was also among the factors causing a shortage of nurses in the state.

“There are now 12,533 nurses in Johor, with 8,777 in public hospitals and 3,756 in private hospitals,” Ling told reporters after launching the state-level International Nurses Day celebration here today.

“When I made an official visit to the private and government hospitals in Johor recently, most of the health personnel voiced their concern that many graduates leave for the neighbouring country as they get attractive salary offers.

“They work as nurses in Singapore, but their salary is equal to that of a specialist doctor in Malaysia because of the currency exchange rate.”

He said there was a possibility that more Malaysians, including doctors, would migrate to Singapore to find better job opportunities.

However, the state government would intensify its efforts to attract them to serve in Johor.

Ling also said the shortage of nurses in Johor was still under control and he would bring up the matter with health minister Khairy Jamaluddin soon.

At the same time, he hoped the government would offer more nursing courses to produce more nurses for both government and private hospitals.