MANILA, Philippines – The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) yesterday said the number of Filipino nurses who have sought employment in the United States during the first quarter of 2009 has gone down by 10.5 percent.
Citing records of the US National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX), TUCP secretary-general and former senator Ernesto Herrera said that from January to March this year, a total of 4,194 Filipino nurses took the test for the first time.
But during the same period last year, the number of first-time NCLEX examinees reached 4,686.
For 2008, the number of first-time examinees was 20,746 or 3.5 percent lower compared to the 21,499 examinees in 2007.
“It is quite possible that the severe global economic downturn, which has hit America hard, has somewhat dampened for now the desire of some Filipino nurses to seek employment there,” Herrera said.
Herrera, however, said the US healthcare industry as a whole and hospitals there have been continuously hiring staff, “while other industries have been throwing out workers.”
He added that while some 5.1 million workers have been displaced in the US since the recession in December 2007, the healthcare sector still managed to create 30,000 new jobs every month in 2008.
Herrera underscored the need for nursing students to specialize in geriatric nursing or the provision of nursing services to the elderly to enable them to pursue their profession.
“The populations of America, Japan and other industrialized countries are getting very old. There is tremendous demand now for geriatric nurses,” he said.
Herrera added that if the country would continue to produce and export nurses, “we might as well make our programs highly responsive to the demands of the global market.”
“This way, fresh nursing graduates would readily obtain gainful employment overseas,” he said, warning that the huge oversupply of nurses is keeping their wages in the local front “even more depressed.”
“We now have more than half a million nurses looking for jobs, including the 67,220 who passed the local licensure examinations in July 2008 and February this year,” he added.–Sheila Crisostomo, Philippine Star
July 2025
Nutrition Month
“Give us much more than P50 increase
for proper nutrition!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO Constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar
to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations
against serious violations of
Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.
Accept National Unity Government (NUG)
of Myanmar. Reject Military!
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July
3 July – International Day of Cooperatives
3 July – International Plastic Bag Free Day
5 July – World Youth Skills Day
7 July – Global Forgiveness Day
11 July – World Population Day
17 July – World Day for International Justice
28 July – World Nature Conservation Day
30 July – World Day against Trafficking in Persons
Monthly Observances:
Schools Safety Month
Nutrition Month
National Disaster Consciousness Month
Weekly Observances:
Week 2: Cultural Communities Week
Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise
Development Week
Week 3: National Science and
Technology Week
National Disability Prevention and
Rehabilitation Week
July 1-7:
National Culture Consciousness Week
July 13-19:
Philippines Business Week
Week ending last Saturday of July:
Arbor Week
Daily Observances:
First Saturday of July:
International Cooperative Day
in the Philippines
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