Filipino Nurses are Needed in Kuwait to Help Improve Kuwait’s Health Services
Filipino Secretary of Labor and Employment, Marianito D. Roque, met with Visiting Kuwaiti Minister of Health Ali Al-Barrak met this week to discuss cooperation in the providing to Kuwait the nursing and technical medical staff it needs for its health care services.
After the meeting, Al-Barrak made a statement to the Kuwait News Agency KUNA that he is very pleased with the high level of expertise in medical and nursing fields in Philippines.
The Minister said that the meeting with the Filipino Secretary of Labor focused on boosting bilateral relations and employing Filipino nurses and other medical staff in Kuwait. The Filipino official showed great interest and understanding of the Kuwaiti ministry’s needs and assured that his country was prepared to help in this issue, Barrak said.
On the other hand, Assistant Undersecretary for medical services support affairs in the Ministry of Health Dr Yousif Al-Nusif, stressed the importance of boosting health services cooperation with Philippines, to benefit from specialized human resources of high professional standards.
Al-Nusif told KUNA, “The minister of health and his accompanying delegation’s meetings with the Filipino Secretary of Labor, included discussions on bringing specialized Filipino nursing staff to Kuwait.” He asserted that the Philippines is one of the leading countries in field of nursing, as it has 450 nursing and medical care institutes.
He clarified that the lack of nursing staff in Kuwait is due to the major expansion in medical services and facilities, in conformity with His Highness the Amir’s wishes to increase hospital capabilities in the country.
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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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