Faculty of Medicine, once again, inaugurated 73 new nurses. The total of 73 new nurses comprised 7 men and 66 women. Therefore, by this 20th inauguration, UGM Nursing Science Program succeeded in inaugurating 1218 nurses. The taking of the oath and inauguration ceremonies of new nurses was led by the Dean, Prof. dr. Ali Ghufron Mukti, M.Sc., Ph.D., at the Auditorium of the Faculty on Tuesday (20/9). The inauguration was special considering that in this period some new nurses graduated with satisfactory GPA above 3. The highest 4.00 GPA is achieved by Fina Noviliya, S. Kep, and the youngest graduates is achieved by Tri Gustin Rahayu, S. Kep, who successfully graduated at the age of 22 years and 21 days old.
"Appreciation should go to Yeremian Limpa, S. Kep, who still has a high learning spirit and successfully graduated at the age of 38 years and 3 months old," said Fitri Haryanti., S. Kep., M. Kes, Head of the UGM Nursing Department in her speech.
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine hopes that the inauguration does not signify that the work has been completed, but it becomes a challenge and test of nurses in the community. The contribution of professional nurses to serve people is certainly expected by the community. "Especially, after Faculty of Medicine successfully ranked 21st in Asia and the highest in Indonesia, the community expects the role of UGM’s nurses in providing the best service," said Ali Ghufron.
He emphasized that nurse profession is on the frontline and really needed by the community. Hence, the waiting period for work after the inauguration is only 2 months. Even some nurses have been booked in advance. "This profession is really needed. I'm sure doctors and other medical professions will have difficulty to work without nurses," he said.
At the global level, the need of nurses is still very high. For example, Japan has signed a MOU with Indonesia as it has the needs for 1,000 nurses. Similarly, Canada also promised a multiplied salary for nurses from Indonesia. "The needs of nurses in some countries have not been met, including from Saudi Arabia and others. This is certainly a challenge for the nurses here to work there," said the Dean while adding that the S2 Program of Clinical Nursing Science has been approved and it is ready for materialization.
Drs. Elvy Effendy, Apt., M. Kes, Head of Health Resources of Yogyakarta Provincial Health Office, adds that by having nurse profession, the graduates have the opportunity to obtain authority positions of nursing. This can be obtained after they went through competency tests. "But don’t worry, because in the past two years generally UGM graduates successfully pass the competency test with one hundred percent success rate,” he added in a speech representing the Head of the Yogyakarta Provincial Health Office.
About the improvement of Nursing Education in Indonesia, Elvy Effendy hopes that Indonesia National Nurses Association (PPNI) conducted a series of competence improvements. The large number of nursing education makes the type of this education varied. "I hope PPNI able to improve the nursing education competency," he said.
Attending the nurse inauguration are the Director of Human Resources and Education of Dr. Sardjito General Hospital, dr. Rohman Arif, M. Kes., and Chairman of Indonesian National Nurses Association of Yogyakarta, Drs. Kirnantoro, M. Kes.