Indonesian Nurses Were Accepted in Japan; Pinoy Nurses in Japan to follow?
Japan has open its doors Indonesian nurses and caregivers. About 200 of them set foot on Japanese soil to help fill up the need for labor shortages in the healthcare industry.
Japan, known to be very stringent in their immigration laws, has finally succumbed to the needs of its aging population and admitted to the world they need the help of their Asian neighbors to take care of their old and sick population.
These Indonesian nurses are part of the 1,000 strong contingent slated to go to Japan within the next 2 years after the free trade pact took effect between the two countries on July 1. These Indonesian nurses are expected to work full time in hospitals and nursing-care facilities. They are expected to be trained for six months to learn the Japanese language before starting to work as nurses.
This is good news for the Indonesian nurses. We are hoping the same can be reached between the Philippines and Japan in the very near future to help boost the demand of our nurses worldwide.
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Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) Supports the Calls to Junk JPEPA Movement
The Philippine Nurses Association (PNA), after careful interpretation and deliberation on the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement or JPEPA, has supported the calls to junk the supposedly economic agreement that will benefit both countries.
Unfortunately, similar to the views of other independent organizations and private sectors, PNA believes that this agreement will not benefit the Philippines (especially our nurses) as whole but Japan. The perceived effect is that there will be an imbalance on the economic commitments favoring Japan as well as those in the unfavorable movement of workers like Nurses as well as the issue on allowing toxic junk to hit Philippine shores from Japan.
Specific to the nursing profession is the lack of true opportunity for Filipino nurses to be at par with the Japanese nurses. The hardship of entry and further study (not to mention the cultural shock the Pinoy nurses have to face) needed for the job is not at all attractive to the Filipino nurses.
Here is an excerpt from the statement released by PNA:
The disadvantages to Filipino nurses who wish to land jobs in Japan under the JPEPA far outweigh the advantages, as evidenced by the following:
The hassle of undergoing 6 months of language training before a Filipino nurse can start work as a trainee, under the supervision of a Japanese nurse;
Learning the language is not a guarantee that the Filipino nurse will get the equivalent of the work status of the Japanese nurse, unless the Filipino nurse passes the Japanese board exam.
In the event the Filipino nurse fails the board exams, his/her working visa may be extended only twice which means that the maximum stay in Japan is only 3 years.
On the other hand, the Filipino caregiver, after 6 months of language training, can already work in a health care facility or a nursing home for the aged. However, under JPEPA, a caregiver is required to have a bachelor’s degree and must be certified as a caregiver by the Philippine government (which is not the case for our caregivers).
The cost of living in Japan is one of the highest in the world. Filipino nurses will not only make adjustments in terms of the medium of communication and the culture but also the high cost of living which will eat up a large chunk of whatever difference in pay a nurse receives from working as a trainee in a Japanese hospital.
So if you wish to work in Japan, think again. Your fellow nurses are clearly not advising you to do that for now or until this JPEPA issue is laid to rest.
Here is the PNA statement that you can read online.
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