Nursing course losing appeal

MANILA, Philippines – Fewer students are opting to take up nursing apparently due to the continuing slump in the hiring of health workers in the United States, the country’s largest labor group reported yesterday.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said the desire among young Filipinos to obtain a nursing degree and work in the United States appears to have waned.

TUCP secretary-general and former senator Ernesto Herrera cited as example nursing schools in Cebu, which have recorded a drop in the number of enrollees for the past years.

“Nursing schools have aggressively expanded their capacity in the last 12 months, but realized that fewer first-year students are actually entering nursing programs compared to figures for the past two years,” Herrera said.

Herrera also reported a 28-percent decline in the number of Filipinos who sought employment in the United States in the first quarter of the year.

“Only 3,024 Filipino nurses took the NCLEX for the first time from January to March, down 1,170 from 4,194 in the same quarter of 2009,” Herrera said, referring to the licensure examination administered by the US National Council of State Boards of Nursing Inc.

Herrera explained that many recession-hit American employers remained reluctant to hire additional skilled foreign workers, including nurses.

“Instead of recruiting new practitioners, many American hospitals are simply asking their existing nursing staff to render extra working hours,” Herrera said.

He said community hospitals and nursing homes run by state and city governments there are definitely reeling from funding constraints.

Due to the weak labor market in America, Herrera said a growing number of Filipino nurses are seeking foreign employment opportunities elsewhere.

The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) previously reported a decline in the number of nursing graduates taking the yearly licensure examination for the past few years. –Mayen Jaymalin (The Philippine Star)