MIRI, Sept. 28 -- Sarawak is confronting a severe nursing shortage that is straining the state's healthcare system and jeopardising patient care.

In observing this, state Transport Minister Datuk Seri Lee Kim Shin believed that the shortage stemmed from several factors, including staff burnout from heavy workloads, difficulties in recruiting and retaining nurses due to limited incentives and relocation support, and rising healthcare demands from an ageing population and increasing non-communicable diseases.

"Inadequate funding for hospital positions and facilities further adds to this pressure," he said when officiating at the Nurses Night 2025, at the Imperial Hotel here on Friday.

The Senadin assemblyman said these challenges had cre...