Filipino nurses seeking US jobs continue to decline

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 16, 2010) - The number of Filipino nurses aspiring to practice their profession in America continued to drop year-on-year in the third quarter, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines reported on Saturday.

Ernesto Herrera, TUCP secretary-general, said only 2,227 Filipino nurses took the US NCLEX for the first time from July to September, down 38 percent or 1,355 fewer compared to the 3,582 in the same three-month period in 2009.

TUCP now expects some 5,000 fewer Filipino nurses taking the NCLEX the whole of this year, according to Herrera, former chairman of the Senate committee on labor, employment and human resources development.

Thus far, a total of 7,780 Filipino nurses took the NCLEX for the first time from January to September, down 35 percent or 4,074 less versus the 11,854 in the same nine-month period last year.

The NCLEX is the licensure exam administered by the US National Council of State Boards of Nursing Inc. The number of Filipino nurses taking the test for the first time is a reliable indicator as to how many of them are trying to enter the profession in the US, Herrera said.

A total of 15,382 Filipino nurses took the NCLEX for the first time in the whole of 2009, down 5,364 or 26 percent from 20,746 in 2008. All told, since 2005, some 90,000 Filipino nurses have taken the NCLEX for the first time, that is, excluding repeaters.

Despite the decline in the number of Filipinos nurses seeking US employment, Herrera said the Philippines remains America's largest supplier of new foreign nurses, after India, South Korea, Canada and Nigeria.

Outside the US, the Philippines is also the United Kingdom's third biggest supplier of new foreign nurses, after India and Australia.

Herrera said many Filipino nurses have temporarily sought employment in local industries, mainly services, while waiting for more gainful work in foreign labor markets.

"We now have thousands of registered nurses engaged in services that have nothing to do with their profession, working as contact center staff, baristas, cashiers, even lotto terminal operators," Herrera said.

The Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) earlier estimated at 200,000 the jobless nurses in the country. "A total of 37,679 new practitioners passed the local licensure exam in July. They are now competing for jobs with some 160,000 unemployed nurses," PNA said.

TUCP supports the continued deployment of Filipino nurses to lucrative overseas labor markets. "We obviously have a large surplus of nurses," Herrera said.

"We would prefer that government encourage the deployment of nurses, and discourage the placement of domestic helpers overseas," Herrera said.

"Filipino nurses abroad are generally less vulnerable to employer abuse. Their skills protect them. Their skills are not easy to replace, so employers are careful not to mistreat and drive them away," he said.

"As to domestic helpers, they are extremely susceptible to abuse because they live with their employers, and their skills are easy to replace," Herrera said.

"In Hong Kong for instance, for every Filipino domestic helper, there could be dozens of Indonesians, Thais and even local Chinese replacements waiting in line. This is also true in the Middle East. Potential substitutes from Sri Lanka and Indonesia abound," he added.

Training opportunity for Filipino nurses bared

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - Filipino Labor Secretary Marianito Roque announced the implementation of "Nurses Assigned in Rural Service" (NARS) program throughout the country.

The program adopts a training-cum-employment scheme which aims to hire unemployed, but registered nurses to be deployed to their hometowns to undergo six-month training to perform public health functions and other clinical tasks to enhance their skills and employment opportunity in local hospitals and other medical facilities.

The NARS program is a collaborative undertaking of the Department of Labor and Employment, the Department of Health (DOH), and the Professional Regulations Commission's Board of Nursing (PRC-BON).

Roque also instructed all DOLE Regional Offices to entertain applications and conduct selection of nurses for deployment to rural municipalities in the region. Initially, 5,000 nurse-trainees would be selected for deployment all over the country specifically in the 3rd to 6th class municipalities.

In Zamboanga Peninsula, DOLE Regional Director Ponciano Ligutom directed all units and staff to conduct information dissemination on NARS Program.

The registration of applicants will be held at the Public Employment Service Office (PESO) of the identified municipalities and at the DOLE provincial Offices or through the Internet which can be accessed on this URL: http://www.nars.dole.gov.ph where application form can be downloaded.

The requirements for hiring nurses are as follows: with valid nurse license issued by the PRC, not over 35 years old, resident of the identified municipalities; and no nursing-related practice for 1-3 years. Qualified nurse applicants who are dependents of workers affected by the Global Crisis shall be given priority in the selection.

On the other hand, Ligutom stressed that the first level screening and evaluation will be done by the PESO and the Municipal Health Office while the second level will be conducted by DOLE-IX Provincial Heads, HRMO and the Assistant Regional Director.

The final selection will be at the Office of the Regional Director. The orientation and deployment of nurses in the local hospitals is scheduled on April 1. While on training, nurses would receive a minimum allowance from DOLE worth P8,000 a month.

Another batch of 5,000 nurse-trainees would be recruited within August 15 to September 30 and the deployment would commence on October 1.

The program is part of the government's efforts to generate jobs for the unemployed workers, thus, promote the employment opportunities in line with strategies aimed at mitigating the impact of the global financial crisis on the Filipino workforce.

20,746 Pinoy nurses sought US jobs in 2008

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 17, 2009) - Despite the global economic meltdown that has hit the United States hard, with some 2.6 million Americans losing their jobs in the last 12 months, more than 20,000 Filipino nurses still indicated their desire to practice their profession in that country by taking the US licensure examination last year, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said.

Former Senator and TUCP secretary-general Ernesto Herrera said a total of 20,746 Filipino nurses took NCLEX for the first time in 2008. The NCLEX refers to the National Council Licensure Examination administered by the US (National Council) of State Boards of Nursing Inc. (USNCSBN).

Herrera said the 20,746 represents a decline of 3.5 percent, or 753 fewer compared to the 21,499 Filipino nurses that took the NCLEX for the first time in 2007.

The 20,746 also brought to 66,597 the total number of Filipino nurses that indicated their desire to enter the US nursing profession by taking the NCLEX for the first time since 2005, according to Herrera, former chairman of the Senate labor, employment and human resources development committee.

Citing USNCSBN statistics, Herrera said a total of 9,181 Filipino nurses took the NCLEX for the first time in 2005; 15,171 in 2006; and 21,499 in 2007.

Herrera said the slight decrease in the number of Filipino nurses that took the NCLEX for the first time in 2008 "does not necessarily suggest a trend."

"It is too early to say whether there is a downtrend, considering the drop was marginal, and came after huge increases of 65 percent in 2006 and 42 percent in 2007," he pointed out.

"Based on the initial feedback that we got from the NCLEX testing center here in Manila, which opened only in August 2007, there is a long waiting period before nurses can actually take the test. This is because so many have already lined up to take the test, and the center can only accommodate so many takers at a time," Herrera added.

Herrera earlier said only the Healthcare and education sectors in the US are actually creating new jobs, and that the rest of that country's economic segments are either reducing personnel, or have ceased hiring.

But on Friday, even one of the world's largest pharmaceutical firms, New York City-based Pfizer Inc., said it was laying off a third of its 8,000 sales staff in the US, and eliminating 800 research positions.

Herrera, meanwhile, urged Filipino nurses that have been recruited by American employers or their Philippine agencies to get hold of the "Voluntary Code for the Recruitment of Foreign-Educated Nurses to the United States."

"The document, available online, is a must-read for every Filipino nurse planning to work in America," he said.

Herrera said the code essentially binds subscribers, including recruiters and employers, to minimum ethical standards in order to discourage abuses and to prevent the exploitation and discrimination of Filipino and other foreign-educated nurses in the US.

House urged to pass Senate-approved bill doubling teachers’ pay

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 3, 2008) - The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has urged the House of Representatives to promptly pass the Senate-approved bill seeking to increase by P9,000 or double the minimum basic pay for the country's public school teachers.

"House leaders should now stop paying lip service to the plight of our more than 500,000 public school teachers, and waste no time in passing the bill that the Senate already approved two months ago," TUCP secretary-general and former Senator Ernesto Herrera, said in a statement.

Herrera was referring to Senate Bill (SB) 2408, principally authored by Sen. Loren Legarda. The bill proposes to raise from Salary Grade 10 to 19 the entry-level pay classification for teachers in public elementary and high schools.

This means their initial monthly pay would be jacked up to a new range of P18,471 to P21,995. The existing range is P10,933 to P12,997.

On top of the preliminary P9,000-increase, public school teachers would also get a P3,000-pay raise every three years.

Once approved, the initial adjustment would likewise automatically set off commensurate pay increases for every teacher in the public school system currently receiving compensation higher than the starting rate.

Herrera stressed the need for Congress "to redeem public school teachers from grinding poverty and restore the nobility of the teaching profession."

He warned that unless the House passes the Senate-approved bill, the public school system would continue to lose thousands of highly qualified instructors forced to seek greener pasture overseas, or here in the private sector.

Herrera noted that English-speaking Filipino teachers continue to leave in droves for overseas employment, particularly for the United States, where they get up to $4,000 monthly.

"Advancing in a big way the quality of life of our teachers and keeping them constantly motivated is the best way for Congress to check and reverse the rapid decline of basic education," Herrera pointed out.

Once SB 2408 is enacted, the first-year pay for public school teachers would be almost 25 percent higher than the P15,000 average starting pay for their counterparts in the private sector.

House Bill 4734, principally authored by Gabriela party-list Rep. Luzviminda Iligan, is the counterpart of SB 2408. Ilagan’s bill has been pending with the House appropriations committee since July 2007.

Filipino Nurses Continue To Seek Jobs In America

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 02, 2008) - More and more Filipino nurses have been trying to get jobs abroad because of huge pay and opportunities that await them rather than work in the Philippines.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) on Saturday said a total of 9,837 Filipino nurses took the United States licensure examination for the first time from January to June this year.

Ernesto Herrera, TUCP secretary-general, said the number of Filipino nurses who took the NCLEX and implicitly sought jobs in the US in the first semester was roughly steady -- just 107 shy of the year-ago takers. He said a total of 9,944 Filipino nurses took the examination in the first half of 2007.

The NCLEX refers to the National Council Licensure Examination administered by the US (National Council of) State Boards of Nursing Incorporated (NCSBN).

In the whole of 2007, a record total of 21,499 Filipinos took the NCLEX for the first time (excluding repeaters). This was up 6,328 or 42 percent compared to the 15,171 Filipinos that took the NCLEX for the first time in 2006, according to the former senator.

The TUCP has been an aggressive backer of the country’s nurse practitioners.

The labor group has been pushing the deployment of Filipino nurses to lucrative job markets overseas, saying professionals should enjoy the right to take their skills to where these would get the greatest reward.

For years, Herrera has been urging regulators to close down a growing number of substandard nursing schools.

"Regulators should now be extra vigilant, and see to it that nursing students are kept away from low-grade schools," said Herrera, former chairman of the Senate committee on labor, employment and human resources development.

He cited the need for the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to shield parents and students from the proliferation of so-called "diploma mills.""We must stress that regulators are duty-bound to safeguard the hopes and dreams of tens of thousands of Filipino families to produce a nurse practitioner who will eventually lead them to a better quality of life," Herrera said.

At present, almost 500,000 students are enrolled in nursing schools nationwide, according to the CHED. Of the 132,187 graduates that took the last two Philippine nursing licensure tests in December 2007 and June this year, only 56,689 less than 43 percent passed, according to Herrera.

Last month, a Commission on Audit report revealed that of 263 nursing schools, only 111 had at least 50 percent of their graduates pass the Philippine licensure tests from 2001 to 2005.

Like the TUCP, the COA blamed the CHED for the problem, for failing to promptly close down deficient schools and raise the quality of nursing education.

Philippine Nurses Cry Over Low Pay

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 25, 2008) - Filipino nurses held a noise barrage in one of Manila's oldest government hospital to protest the failure of the Arroyo administration to increase their salaries as mandated by law.

More than 100 protesters criticized the government for its failure to implement the hike in the minimum base pay of nurses as mandated by the Nursing Act of 2002.

Dozens of nursing students also joined the rally which was organized by the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) and the Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK) and the National League of Government Nurses (NLGN). The Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) also supported the protest which was later followed by a press conference.

Under the Nursing Act of 2002, the minimum monthly compensation for entry-level nurses should be pegged at least to Salary Grade 15 which is equivalent to P16,093.

However, six years after the enactment of the said law, many nurses are still grossly underpaid. PNA President Dr. Leah Primitiva Paquiz said there are still government nurses receiving less than P10,000.

“How do we expect these nurses to remain in government service with this kind of salary?” Paquiz asked during the Press conference. She pointed out that while pay is not the primary reason why nurses serve, it becomes the major factor that forces nurses to leave the country and work overseas in order to support their families.

Annie Geron, PSLINK Secretary General confirmed that many nurses would not have left the country had they been accorded a living wage at least.

“Setting the minimum base pay of nurses at Salary Grade 15 does not make it comparable to the salary that a nurse can get in other countries which offer a salary from $3000-$5000,” said Geron, adding, “but this will already do a lot in terms of providing them an incentive to stay in the country.”

Poor pay has contributed to the massive exodus of Filipino nurses, particularly in the period from 2002 to 2006 when the out migration of nurses was at its peak. This mass out migration in turn has led to several hospitals and health facilities closing down due to the lack of skilled health personnel.

“Let us not wait for the time they all leave to work abroad even if in their hearts they would rather serve the Filipinos,”Paquiz said.

Prices of basic commodities such as food and oil have increased many times since the adoption of the nursing law which is why the nurses see the implementation of the nursing law as urgent.
The groups said it plan to hold a protest action in Manila on July 28 to coincide with State of the Nation Address of President Gloria Arroyo.

Exodus Of Pinoy Nurses Continue

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 26, 2007) - More than 21,000 new Filipino nurses sought employment in the United States last year and the exodus continue, draining the country of much needed hospital professionals.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said a total of 21,499 Filipinos took the US National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) for nurses for the first time -- excluding repeaters -- from January to December 2007.

This represents an increase of 6,328 or 42 percent compared to the 15,171 Filipinos that took the NCLEX for the first time in the whole of 2006, TUCP spokesperson Alex Aguilar, said.

He said the 2007 NCLEX statistics, released Jan. 24 by the US National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), only shows the Philippines' position as America's top provider of foreign nurses.

Aguilar said the Philippines readily topped the five countries with the most number of nationals taking the NCLEX for the first time in 2007. India came second, with 5,370 examinees; followed by South Korea, 1,906; Canada, 888; and Cuba, 673.

Passing the NCLEX is usually the final step in the nurse licensure process in the US. Thus, the number of people taking the examination is a reliable indicator of how many new US-educated as well as foreign-trained nurses are trying to enter the profession in the US.

TUCP's disclosure came a day after the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) expressed confidence that global demand for Filipino workers would remain robust despite fears of an economic slump in the US.

Many foreign countries, particularly the developed ones, are still approaching the Philippines wanting to recruit Filipino workers, particularly professionals and other skilled personnel, POEA chief Rosalinda Baldoz said.

"Foreign employers come to us because they are short of capable workers and their nationals refuse to handle the dirty, dangerous and difficult jobs," Baldoz said.

Even in the US, where there are fears of a looming recession, Baldoz said they see a growing demand for nurses as well as temporary workers in hotels.

Buoyed by record high crude oil prices, Middle Eastern countries also need thousands of foreign workers to support heightened economic activity in that part of the world, she added.

The TUCP has been pushing the deployment of surplus nurses and other highly skilled workers to lucrative job markets overseas.

"Our sense is, if we must advance the export of services, we might as well consciously encourage the deployment highly skilled surplus professionals such as nurses, who are generally immune from employer mistreatment," Aguilar said.

He said the government should "purposely discourage" the overseas deployment of unskilled workers such as domestic helpers. "Their skills are easily replaceable. This is why they are undeniably far more susceptible to employer abuse," he added.

Aguilar said Filipino nurses looking for greener pastures could definitely count on greater employment opportunities in the US, where more than 800 new hospitals would be put up until 2012.

He said some 78 million American baby boomers -- those born between 1946 to 1964 -- now comprise 26 percent of the 300-million US population. The oldest baby boomers started turning 60 years old in 2006, he added.

"These seniors and the deluge of migrants from Mexico are creating a huge demand for hospitalization and health care in the US," Aguilar pointed out.

Aguilar played down fears of a brain drain with the continuing deployment of Filipino nurses to overseas labor markets.

"We are now producing nurses at a rate of 100,000 to 150,000 every year, and less than five percent of them are getting employed locally, either by the government or the private sector. So we definitely have a large surplus of nurses," he said.

Just last August, he noted that the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) admitted to the local nursing profession a total of 31,275 candidates who passed June 2007 licensure examination.

This does not include the thousands of candidates who took the December 2007 nursing eligibility examination, the results of which will be released soon.

On top of those who took the December examination, the PRC earlier said it expects anywhere from 80,000 to 100,000 nursing graduates to take the June 2008 licensure test.

Meanwhile, TUCP renewed its objection to a House bill that seeks to require nurses who obtained government-subsidized schooling to render at least two years of compulsory local service before they can leave for overseas employment.

The labor group was referring to a bill that seeks to oblige nursing graduates of state colleges and universities to perform 24 months of mandatory service here before they may be lawfully recruited to work abroad.

Aguilar said the bill was "totally counterproductive and uncalled-for," considering the massive oversupply of nurses in the local labor market.

Gov't Blamed For Woe Of Pinoy Nurses

MANILA – “The decision of the CGFNS to disallow visa application for June 2006 Nursing Board Exam can only be blamed squarely on the government’s tolerance on the masterminds of the test leakage. There was indeed no closure, only cover-up”.

This was the reaction of Elmer Labog, of the party list group Kilusang Mayo Uno, on the ongoing problems the nurses are facing as the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS), a US government agency handling the entry of foreign nurses declared a ban for nurses who took the June 2006 exams.

“Despite the public outrage about the leakage, no one was made accountable and everything was just swept under the rug. The R.A. Gapuz Review Center which according to witnesses was in the center of the leakage had not been investigated, along with the rest of the 19 individuals who were implicated as culprits of the leakage,” Labog said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.

“Although we have great faith on the capacity and credibility of our nurses, we cannot speak the same for the Professional Regulations Commission, the Board of Nursing and the government who neglected the leakage case filed by the nurses themselves,” Labog said.

“We cannot blame our workers seeking greener pastures outside the country since unemployment and underemployment here are running at double-digits. The trend of our medical workers going out of the country should and can be reversed. The budget for health care should be increase to accommodate more nurses and doctors and entice them to stay,” opined Labog.

“In the first place, our country is dire need of health practitioners, particularly nurses and doctors. Massive brain drain occurs because the present wages of health workers could not even make the healthy. If a doctor receives P 7,000 take home pay, then how can you expect them to stay?” Labog said.

“The Barinaga-Beltran Bill seeks to address this in part by increasing pay for private workers by P125/day while another bill pushes for a P3,000 across the board salary increase for government employees which medical workers can benefit from if approved. This should’ve been the priority of the legislators, along with the Baringa-Beltran Bill seeking for P125 wage increase rather than the Anti-terrorism bill,” Labog said.

“The World Health Organization (WHO) already waved a red flag on the continuing hemorrhage of our medical workers and proposed a substantial increase in benefits for medical professionals to make them stay,” he said.