Who will take care of improving the hiring and job opportunities of Filipino nurses abroad?
With many jobless nurses now in the Philippines, the question roams about “who will take care of improving the hiring and job opportunities of Filipino Nurses abroad?”. Is it solely the responsibility of the Philippine government to the Pinoy nurses as it is to the Filipino people? Or is it something that local educational system and the Filipino families have to take care of?
We have read a lot from the news that a lot of recruiters now are scrambling to take advantage of this oversupply of nurses situation in the Philippines. Some recruiters promised to solve the situation by opening up new trainings, hiring and job opportunities abroad through them. With this, we should be worried that illegal recruiters may begin to proliferate in the nursing profession.
More often than not, the governance of a profession is to blame in this situation. Many believed that the nursing profession is in a crisis right now and it needs government intervention. If you look deeply into the root cause of the problem, the local nursing supply and demand has something to do with it as well.
First and foremost, nursing schools should stop accepting more nursing students into the pipeline or at least control the entrants. CHED has to have a hand on this. Maybe PNA should support it as well. CHED should make an assessment of the oversupply nationwide and put a halt for more production of nurses. If the government is not winning the frontlines for nursing demands abroad (like the US, UK and Canada), then we should take care of the local scene.
Second, parents should start diverting their kids to other courses. Nursing is not as lucrative as before. Parents have to guide their kids to the right careers or profession that fits them. Career decisions should not be about money anymore.
And third, if you are a student in nursing or planning to be one someday, be doubly sure you want to be in this field or profession. If you are someone who, like many, had been forced or swayed to be in this profession against their will, then think again and decide what is best for yourself. Talk to your parents and arrange for a shift in career.
With oversupply of nurses and no demand, no one will surely make money. In the family that nurtures a student to become a nurse someday, disappointments and frustration will surface later. Without job opportunities for your the new nurse in the family, you end up losing anyway. There are other more lucrative professions and careers (like in IT) that have not been tapped still by many Filipino students.
Hopefully, the hiring and job opportunities for Pinoy nurses will improve in the near term. The Philippine government should be more agressive in building ties and relations to potential employers abroad. If not, then we, the kith and kins of Filipino nurses, should urge the government to do something drastic and immediate. And we should do our part as well in solving this employment crisis.
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Pinoy Nurses to Take NCLEX in Saipan Drops due to NCLEX Manila
Filipino nurses wanting to take the NCLEX had previously favored Saipan because of its close proximity to the Philippines and the less stringent visa requirement of the CNMI government compared with the U.S. immigration in Guam.
However, with the test now being offered in Manila came a proportionate drop in the number of Pinoy nurses coming to Saipan to take the test.
A total of 9,837 Filipinos took the National Council Licensure Examination from January to June 2008, a decrease of 107 from last year’s number of 9,944 during the same time, Ernesto Herrera, general secretary of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, said in a press statement.
The United States’ National Council of State Boards of Nursing board of directors chose Manila as an international NCLEX site in February 2007, following the Philippine government’s request to host the NCLEX.
The Marianas Visitor’s Authority tabulated that the number of Filipino tourists dropped from 516 in July 2007 to 171 in July of this year. MVA officials said the drop in numbers could be attributed to Manila now offering the test.
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Does Practical Nursing Really Has Badly Affected Supply and Demand for Filipino/Pinoy Nurses Locally and Abroad?
There is a question now if the proliferation of Practical Nursing Courses has badly affected the current supply and demand of nurses in the Philippines and its impact to the impression of potential employers abroad.
Even before, the Philppine Nursing Association (PNA) had reportedly opposed the institutionalization of Practical (PN) in the country and its insertion by the Commission on Higher Education (Ched) through a 4-level ladderization of the nursing curriculum. PN is just one of those four levels. The other three are for certified nursing aides (CNA), applied science in nursing (ASN-RN) and registered nursing (RN).
The PNA, an umbrella organization of various nursing groups in the country, earlier said that PN schools only contribute to the dilemma of job availability for registered nurses. The organization said that there is no local demand or specific job positions in the Philippine health care delivery system for Practical Nurses.
It likewise noted that there is no licensure for practical nurses provided in Republic Act 9173 or Philippine Nursing Act to provide legal basis for the “institution of Practical Nursing.”
Despite this, it did not stop PN schools accredited by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) from pushing for the ladderization of PN and ASN-RN.
Gregory Tyrone Howard, president of the National Federation of Licensed Practical Nurses in America said Filipino PN graduates could qualify in the US if schools introduce a US-approved PN course.
But this doesn’t solve the issue if the Practical Nursing course is the culprit behind the dwindling job demand for our Registered Nurses. The government should look into this report and see where they need to really control or limit the Practical Nursing courses from even further affecting the Nursing profession in general.
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No Jobs for Pinoy Nurses in Israel – Beware of Illegal Recruiters
The Philippine Consulate at Tel Aviv in Israel has warned the public that there is no such requirement for Pinoy nurses in the land of the Holy.
This announcement came after reports that certain recruitment agencies have been luring the job-hungry Pinoy nurses who are now stranded in the Philippines ready to work abroad. The embassy has denied reports of employment opportunities at a certain Jordan Valley Medical Center.
The Philippine government has already made some information awareness to thwart any attempt to recruit our Filipino nurses to Israel.
You have been warned.
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