'Labor export thrust not good for Pinoy nurses'
MANILA, Philippines — A group of migrant workers in New Zealand urged the Philippine government on Saturday to scale down its promotion of Filipino nurses as export products, saying such policy is backfiring against Pinoys.
Amie Dural, spokesperson Migrante Aotearoa New Zealand, said the export policy is not only to blame for the crisis gripping the Philippine health system but also leading nurse-importing countries to impose stricter standards on Filipino nurses.
"We cannot blame the nurse-importing countries like New Zealand, Canada, Britain and others for imposing stricter standards on Filipino nurses. No less than the Philippine government’s promotion of nurses as export products is to blame for the perception of New Zealand and other countries that the quality of Filipino nurses has deteriorated because of the proliferation of nursing schools in the Philippines," said Dural.
She blamed the government's desperate bid for more dollar-earning Filipinos. "It is deplorable that the CHED and Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) continue to sell-out health professionals for overseas jobs by urging nursing schools to “device ways on how to produce an even more competent set of graduates."
“In fact New Zealand authorities find it easier to get fresh nursing graduates from Kenya registered, than someone from the Philippines," said Dural, quoting a statement by David Wills, director of the Nurses Society, in the New Zealand Herald last February 17.
According to Wills, Filipino nurses who cannot obtain registration in New Zealand asked the Nurses Society to help them find jobs elsewhere but overseas nursing authorities have also stopped registering Filipino nurses in light of concerns over nursing qualifications from the Philippines.
Nurse-importing countries have reportedly started doubting the quality of Filipino nurses because of the very big number of graduates being churned out by Philippine school each year, aggravated by the cheating scandal surrounding the Nurse Licensure Exam of 2006.
Last year, a total of 67,220 nursing graduates passed the licensure exam, join the ranks of about 400,000 unemployed or underemployed nurses.
Migrante Aotearoa New Zealand said apart from imposing stringent screening and training of new nurses, the Philippine government should also focus its attention in solving the problem faced by the local health system.
“It’s time to focus on growing needs at home, diminishing options abroad," the group said in a statement.
It cited topnotcher Jovie Ann Alawas Decoyna of the licensure exam given last November for declaring her preference to work in a hospital in her own city and hometown as against seeking work abroad.
The Commission on Higher Education (Ched) plans to extend the present four-year nursing curriculum to five years purportedly to intensify training and help Filipino nurses hurdle the now stricter standards being observed by New Zealand and others.
Dural said the CHED, POEA and other government agencies that “promote labor export policy and commercialization of education to fit the demands of the global market certainly cannot be trusted to improve the Philippine health situation as they continue to market Filipino nurses as commodities."
For health workers and all the sick Filipinos awaiting their services, the biggest challenge is the chronic failure of the Philippine government to prioritize health in terms of budget for public health services and ensure adequate compensation for doctors and nurses in order to stop the alarming medical exodus, Dural explained.
In 2005, the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines (PHAP) reported that the continued exodus of doctors and nurses seeking better-paying jobs abroad has forced the closure of some 1,000 private hospitals across the Philippines .
Contrary to its constitutional mandate to promote and protect the health of the Filipino people, it is the height of malpractice that the Philippine government continues to neglect public health by pushing the exodus of nurses and doctors just so it could gain more dollar remittances, Dural said. - GMANews.TV
Amie Dural, spokesperson Migrante Aotearoa New Zealand, said the export policy is not only to blame for the crisis gripping the Philippine health system but also leading nurse-importing countries to impose stricter standards on Filipino nurses.
"We cannot blame the nurse-importing countries like New Zealand, Canada, Britain and others for imposing stricter standards on Filipino nurses. No less than the Philippine government’s promotion of nurses as export products is to blame for the perception of New Zealand and other countries that the quality of Filipino nurses has deteriorated because of the proliferation of nursing schools in the Philippines," said Dural.
She blamed the government's desperate bid for more dollar-earning Filipinos. "It is deplorable that the CHED and Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) continue to sell-out health professionals for overseas jobs by urging nursing schools to “device ways on how to produce an even more competent set of graduates."
“In fact New Zealand authorities find it easier to get fresh nursing graduates from Kenya registered, than someone from the Philippines," said Dural, quoting a statement by David Wills, director of the Nurses Society, in the New Zealand Herald last February 17.
According to Wills, Filipino nurses who cannot obtain registration in New Zealand asked the Nurses Society to help them find jobs elsewhere but overseas nursing authorities have also stopped registering Filipino nurses in light of concerns over nursing qualifications from the Philippines.
Nurse-importing countries have reportedly started doubting the quality of Filipino nurses because of the very big number of graduates being churned out by Philippine school each year, aggravated by the cheating scandal surrounding the Nurse Licensure Exam of 2006.
Last year, a total of 67,220 nursing graduates passed the licensure exam, join the ranks of about 400,000 unemployed or underemployed nurses.
Migrante Aotearoa New Zealand said apart from imposing stringent screening and training of new nurses, the Philippine government should also focus its attention in solving the problem faced by the local health system.
“It’s time to focus on growing needs at home, diminishing options abroad," the group said in a statement.
It cited topnotcher Jovie Ann Alawas Decoyna of the licensure exam given last November for declaring her preference to work in a hospital in her own city and hometown as against seeking work abroad.
The Commission on Higher Education (Ched) plans to extend the present four-year nursing curriculum to five years purportedly to intensify training and help Filipino nurses hurdle the now stricter standards being observed by New Zealand and others.
Dural said the CHED, POEA and other government agencies that “promote labor export policy and commercialization of education to fit the demands of the global market certainly cannot be trusted to improve the Philippine health situation as they continue to market Filipino nurses as commodities."
For health workers and all the sick Filipinos awaiting their services, the biggest challenge is the chronic failure of the Philippine government to prioritize health in terms of budget for public health services and ensure adequate compensation for doctors and nurses in order to stop the alarming medical exodus, Dural explained.
In 2005, the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines (PHAP) reported that the continued exodus of doctors and nurses seeking better-paying jobs abroad has forced the closure of some 1,000 private hospitals across the Philippines .
Contrary to its constitutional mandate to promote and protect the health of the Filipino people, it is the height of malpractice that the Philippine government continues to neglect public health by pushing the exodus of nurses and doctors just so it could gain more dollar remittances, Dural said. - GMANews.TV
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