Health chief warns overstated claims of job shortages could lead to fewer new nurses

Hong Kong’s health minister has warned that the city will need to “bear the consequences” of exaggerating concerns over the employment prospects of nurses, as such remarks could deter new blood from joining the profession.

“I do not want recent comments, such as claims that ‘[nursing] graduation equals unemployment’, to dampen the interest of our younger generation in joining the nursing profession,” Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau said on Thursday.

“Training nurses takes time, and [the number of nurses] cannot be increased overnight … if certain inaccurate statements affect our recruitment next year or in the period ahead, we will have to bear the negative consequences.”

Lo’s remarks followed a heated debate over the employment prospects of nurses in the city.