Cayetano Seeks Probe on Alleged Exploitation of Nurses

MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Pilar Juliana “Pia” Cayetano has filed a resolution calling for an investigation into the alleged “exploitative” practices employed by some hospitals regarding the hiring of registered nurses and nursing graduates.

Cayetano, head of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, said the Senate should look into the reported plight of many Filipino nurses in the country who get hired by hospitals as “on-the-job” trainees instead of being employed as regular nurses.

Worse, the senator said in her Senate Resolution No. 166, these hospitals are allegedly charging the nurses additional fees for training work experience and certification.

She said that despite the claim of University of the Philippines (UP) College of Nursing Dean Dr. Josefina Tuazon and Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) president Dr. Teresita I. Barcelo that there is an oversupply of nurses in the country, many hospitals in the country are still understaffed and do not meet the required nurse to patient ratio especially in far flung areas.

Cayetano said this can be attributed to the fact that the plantilla of a lot of public hospitals are outdated and can no longer service the needs of our people.

In her resolution, Cayetano said “nurses need to comply with a required minimum 2-year work experience for employment abroad and to obtain the required certification and as such, are constrained to work as OJTs in hospitals even without pay – or with salaries below the minimum wage.” –HANNAH L. TORREGOZA, Manila Standard Today