In spite of advances in the nursing profession, nurses in Malta were still not issued with a warrant like other professionals were, the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses said yesterday.

In a statement marking International Nurses Day, celebrated today, the MUMN said that the lack of nurses was having a negative impact on the health sector.

It said the decision to cut the stipend given to student nurses to Lm36 would only make the situation worse because young people were not being encouraged to join the profession.

The problem will get worse, the MUMN said, because with the opening of the new hospital the number of nurses needed will be greater than what is available today.

The MUMN said the Health Division was taking too long to authorise the opening of special registers for nurses.