In the years since the war, Timor-Leste has struggled with providing high-quality care due to the scarcity of senior nursing staff.
Far from being confined to hospital work, most nurses and midwives will be practising in one of the 92 community Health centres (CHC’s) or 192 Health Posts.
The task of maintaining competency and high clinical standards across so many sites in such a geographically challenged nation is a tall one.
Nurse & Midwife Training in Timor-Leste
The National Institute of Health (INS) is charged with this responsibility, and has taken many positive steps to address the training needs of nurses and midwives across the country.
A number of other key partners, such as St John of God, the World Health Organisation, UNICEF and John Snow International have also made major contributions to this work. However, much remains to be done, and more resourcing will be required to scale up the programs being delivered.
The largest training need for the medical workforce of Timor-Leste is in primary care training

The Timorese Strategic Plan target is to have:
1 doctor, 2 nurses, and 2 midwives for each of the 192 community health posts by 2020.
How Maluk Timor is helping upskill the next generation of nurses & midwives
1. Working with other NGO’S
Maluk Timor intends to collaborate with the Ministry of Health, St John of God health care, INS and John Snow International to contribute to the optimisation of several CHCs as clinical training sites (Vera Cruz, Comoro, Covalima).
This will involve ongoing assessment of personnel resourcing needs, of systems strengthening, and also clinical training of midwives and nurses.



2. Competency Assessment Program
We work with partners to assess the current competency and training needs of nurses and midwives working across young nation.

3. Side by side Training Workshops
These workshops happen weekly within the different CHC’s.

4. Winning community trust
Raising the clinical standards of these staff is a crucial step not only in ensuring better care for patients, but also in winning the trust of the community.
Too often patients avoid clinics and hospitals, preferring to seek faith healers or herbal remedies, sometimes with tragic results.
Part of our vision at Maluk Timor is to help our counterparts in the government clinics build that confidence in the community, which leads to increased vaccination rates, safer births, and better health generally.

This whole program is being built as a model for the Timorese government to adopt and expand to cover the entire nation.
Latest news from our nurse training program
Maluk Timor Nursing team continues to kick goals with Triage
Last week the Maluk Timor Nursing team were supporting Ministry of Health nurses to triage patients at outpatients of Becora Community Health Centre (CHC). It was a very busy day - in total 111 adults and 89 children were seen in triage. As part of triage all the...
A story of hope and capacity building done right
Nursing Triage: In February 2018, a young child died whilst waiting to see a doctor in one of Dili’s Community Health Centres (CHCs) – a death that may never have happened if his illness was recognised and treated earlier. Maluk Timor’s government partners at Dili...
Midwifery team building collaborative connections
RELATIONSHIP BUILDING The Maluk Timor midwifery team has been focused on building a relationship with the midwives at one of the busiest maternity Units in Dili. The midwifery team attend the clinic 2.5 days a week and provide clinical support. The team have...
Nursing Triage systems save lives
We want the Timorese community to value and respect their local health centres. That respect will be based on more than the quality of the care provided but also upon the patient’s experience of how they were treated. There’s an old expression that captures this well:...
The value of good nursing care in TL
Any of us who have ever been sick or hospitalised know the value of a great nurse. Doctors breeze in and out but it is the nurses who so often make the difference. We know that the quality of the patient experience matters almost as much as the clinical care: the...
Australian Aid Friendship Grant awarded to Maluk
Maluk Timor is successful in its application in the inaugural round of Australian Aid: Friendship Grants – the Nursing Triage Program to be expanded. On 30 November 2018 the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Marise Payne, announced the successful...
Triage Triumph – Go the NURSES
Triage Triumph Most of us take it for granted that when we arrive at an Emergency Department we will be interviewed by a nurse who makes an assessment of how urgent our condition might be. This is known as triage: determining which patients need to be seen in what...
Support Maluk Timor in helping Timor-Leste
Help the Timorese people by helping Maluk Timor and their programs to improve general health and target diseases spreading in Timor-Leste.
Our goal: 95% vaccination for 0-5 year olds
Maluk Timor and the Ministry of Health are targeting measles, rubella & polio. Our goal: 95% vaccination coverage for 0-5yo.
Celebrating Our Brand New Triage Program
The Vera Cruz triage program ensures assessment is not delayed, malnutrition is not missed and Tuberculosis patients are isolated.