2,819 new nursing officers appointed to Sri Lanka’s health service
A total of 2,819 trainee nurses have been appointed as Grade III nursing officers to Sri Lanka’s health service at a ceremony held at Temple Trees in Colombo today (November 1, 2026), under the patronage of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
The new nursing officers belong to the 2020 student nursing cohort and have successfully completed a three-year Higher Diploma course at nursing colleges under the Ministry of Health and Mass Media.
They had appeared for the GCE Advanced Level examination in the Science and Mathematics streams in 2019 and 2020 before entering 16 nursing colleges across the island in 2023.
The newly appointed nursing officers will be assigned to hospitals and healthcare institutions across the country administered by the central government and provincial councils.
At the same ceremony, promotion letters were presented to 76 Grade I nursing officers (Hospital Services), promoting them to the Special Grade of nursing officers (Hospital Services).
Addressing the event, Minister of Health and Mass Media Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa said that steps had been taken to speed up the filling of vacancies in the country’s hospital system to address staff shortages and provide better healthcare services to the public.
The Minister noted that the Ministry had given special attention to filling vacancies in the nursing service since 2017.
He further stated that staffing requirements for the next decade had been estimated using scientific data, in line with the country’s health policy and strategic plans for 2025–2035.
Accordingly, arrangements have been made to recruit 13,000 personnel to the nursing service between 2027 and 2029, subject to approval from the Department of Management Services under the Ministry of Finance.
Deputy Minister of Health Dr. Hansaka Wijemuni, Secretary to the Ministry of Health and Mass Media Dr. Anil Jasinghe, along with several additional secretaries, deputy directors-general and other ministry officials, attended the ceremony.
