Health Minister Michael Damianos is likely to receive a negative response from the nursing registration council regarding his proposal to hire nurses from non-EU countries to fill existing staffing gaps in both public and private sectors.

Following the opposition from the Cyprus Nurses and Midwives Association and trade unions SEK and PEO, the unions representing public sector nurses (Pasidy and Pasyno) have also expressed their disapproval.

According to daily Philenews, the president of the nursing registration council Christos Christodoulou said that “the law must be applied as it stands without exceptions”, referring to the fact that, for nurses from non-EU countries to be hired in Cyprus, they need to be proficient in Greek.

However, he also said that an official statement on the issue will be issued next week.

According to Christodoulou, Cyprus is short by around 500 nurses to fill existing staffing gaps in clinics and hospitals. In addition, only around 120 nurses are set to graduate from nursing schools this month.

“The nursing registration council will meet on this issue next week,” Christodoulou said, adding an official announcement will be made after the meeting.

“However, we can already say that as a registration council, we always demand strict adherence to the law regarding the qualifications and criteria for registering a nurse in the professional registry. One of these criteria is a good knowledge of the Greek language. If a nurse, whether from the EU or a third country, meets this requirement and their education ensures the quality of services we demand, they can provide services to Cypriot patients.”

He then added that for the nursing registration council, the primary concern is the proper service of patients and the provision of high-level services safely.

“All stakeholders need to come together and discuss the problem,” he concluded.

Similar statements were made by the head of the Pasidy nursing branch Prodromos Argyrides and by the spokesperson of the Cyprus Nurses Association Theodoros Petelis.

“Since 2020, we have been warning the health ministry that we would have a problem with the number of nurses in Cyprus,” Petelis said.

“Four years have passed without any substantial action. The implementation of the law, which includes good knowledge of the Greek language, is non-negotiable for us. Incentives must be given to Cypriot students to choose nursing schools.”

He was echoed by Argyrides, who said that “the Greek language requirement was included in the law after a very tragic incident, and this must not be forgotten.”

“This, along with the quality of services derived from the nurses’ qualifications, must be ensured. We need to attract new nurses. The planning must be twofold, namely long-term to cover future needs and short-term for existing needs. However, no compromises can be made,” Argyrides concluded.