Background 

Kaspars Laiko moved to Malta in November 2021 to work as a nurse at Saint James Hospital – Malta’s largest private hospital located in Sliema, one of the isle’s major residential and commercial areas. 

Discussion

Q: What are the advantages to working as a medical professional in Malta? 

Kaspars Laiko: Well, the first advantage I noticed when I came here to Malta was that, since I am a European resident, I got a free booster vaccine, so I can easily say that the St. James Group takes good care of its employees. The second would be that the tuition from the colleagues’ side is very organised, and from time to time there is a progress review with the theatre manager and your direct tutor – in my case it’s the head nurse that’s responsible for the scrub side. The employees have free lunch from the hospital canteen, which is a big bonus, and also coffee in the mornings with some snacks. The salary is paid as per contract at the end of every month, I see this as an advantage, and lately there has been a rise in pay for on call cases. 

Q: What does your current work schedule look like and what are your career prospects in Malta? 

Kaspars Laiko: Now, mostly I’m scrubbing for general surgery cases - laparoscopic cases, hernias, breast augmentations, haemorrhoidectomies, ENT cases, they also have dental cases, for these the scrub personnel does not need to scrub, since they have their own team, and the same is for ophthalmic cases. Regarding orthopaedic surgery, they have a whole team of scrubs, and I think I won’t be scrubbing for orthopaedic cases anytime soon, because at the moment I have to master general surgery. Besides, they got new orthopaedic nurses from India just last week, but that does not stop me from popping into the ortho theatre! 

Once per month I work at the endoscopy ward, and sometimes I’m also scrubbing for another theatre on the 2nd floor at St. James Hospital, which is nice for having a bit of diversity. If staying in Malta long term one could obtain a fully registered nurse certificate if working as a nurse full time for two to three years. 

Q: What is the lifestyle in Malta like? How does it compare to, for example, the UK? 

Kaspars Laiko: Living in Malta is quite calm, and everything is very near to the location where I live. At first this seemed slightly unusual for me, however, now I’m used to it and quite like it. With the salary being fairly close to UK’s I could say I can manage to save up a quarter of it at least, of course that depends on the type of things or food that one would buy. 

Finding a job as a nurse in Malta

Candidates interested in finding positions in Malta may register a CV and contact us to discuss opportunities. Advertised jobs can be viewed on our website and applications made by uploading a recent CV which should highlight the essential credentials sought by the employer and detailed in the job advert.

Referred to as the "nurse of the Mediterranean", Malta has a long reputation for outstanding healthcare and is currently ranked fifth globally by the World Health Authority. Our article about Malta's healthcare sector details some of the developments.

Other candidate experiences in different countries can be read in the case studies section of the website, including that of Rebecca Phelani a senior nurse in the emergency department of Sharjah, UAE.