Indonesian Nursing Workforce on the Era of ASEAN Economic Community

Abstract

The goal of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Cooperation is directed at the economic integration of the member states in to a single highly competitive and equitable production base market in the global economy. Therefore, free trade agreement related to the services sector, including nursing will eliminate the barriers for service suppliers across the member states while maintaining adhering autonomy of their national rules and regulations. This study will illustrate the nursing situation in Indonesia in terms of the anticipation regarding quality and quantity levels and global opportunities. We describe the distribution of the current local nursing workforce, current regulations and other factors which may influence their competitiveness. The qualitative methods were used to analyse jurisdictional policy review in legislation and relevant literature, then an in-depth interview and Focus Group Discussion with stakeholders and professional organization was carried out. Finally, triangulation of sources and methods of the collected information was performed supplemented the quantitative description needed of the nursing workforce. In anticipated quality and quantity, the Indonesian nurses were able to meet the demands necessary for the domestic nursing standards and service distribution. We anticipate that the strengthening of existing regulations related to foreign nursing workers and improvement of nursing quality, were not an issue. The surplus of the nurses in Indonesia provide both the government and Indonesian nurses with an economic opportunity to cover the skill shortages in the other ASEAN members. Indonesian nurses are skilled which makes them competitive at the regional and global level. The government should further improve by strengthening relevant legislation; harmonizing the curriculum and nursing education to a world class standard. Ministry of Health Rep of Indonesia and National Nurses Professional Organization should be designing a road map to internationalized strategy to promote the nursing workforce. Existing regulations need to be strengthened in relation to the acceptance of foreign nurse admissions. In order to remain competitive, the training and curriculum needs to be improved to ensure the nursing competence is aligned with international or regional standards.