Number of RP nurses seeking US jobs falling

MANILA, Philippines—The number of Filipino nurses seeking jobs in the United States continues to decline, dropping by 38 percent in the third quarter, a prominent labor leader said Saturday.

Former Senator Ernesto Herrera, secretary general of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), said only 2,227 Filipino nurses took the US National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) for the first time from July to September.

This is 1,355 fewer (or 38 percent lower) than the 3,582 nurses who took the exam during the same period in 2009, Herrera said.

He said that from January up to September, only 7,780 Filipino nurses took the NCLEX, down 35 percent, or 4,074 less than the 11,854, during the same period last year.

With these numbers, the TUCP expected some 5,000 fewer Filipino nurses taking the NCLEX the whole of this year, said Herrera, former chairman of the Senate committee on labor, employment and human resources development.

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.

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

“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,” he said.

Herrera said the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) earlier estimated at 200,000 the number of 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,” he quoted the PNA as saying.

Herrera said that the expected smaller number of Filipino nurses seeking US employment follows a similar downward trend registered last year.

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.

But 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.

Since 2005, some 90,000 Filipino nurses have taken the NCLEX for the first time.

The Philippines is also the United Kingdom’s third-biggest supplier of new foreign nurses, after India and Australia. –Philip Tubeza, Philippine Daily Inquirer