Nurses’ association seeks moratorium on nursing programs

CATARMAN, Northern Samar ,Philippines  – Siblings Danhill and May-ann Donoga have long acquired their licenses as nurses but jobs have been elusive for both of them.

They knew it was because they jumped into the bandwagon of high school graduates who went to nursing school with the hopes of working abroad.

But when they finally graduated from college, the demand for nurses abroad had slowed down due to the global economic crunch. Local hospitals, on the other hand, have limited slots for them.

“There’s already an oversupply of nurses and not much job opportunities. There are so many nurses now who are unemployed. Me and my brother are among them,” the 23-year old May-ann lamented.

After graduating in 2008, May-ann worked in a call center in Ortigas but quit after three months.

“It was hard for me to adjust to the schedule. Ortigas was also far from our house in Cavite so I resigned,” she said.

Her younger brother Danhill, on the other hand, remained jobless since graduating in 2009.

Danhill could not conceal his disappointment, especially since he wanted to become a doctor once he finds a job.

Licensed nurses Arminda Cerado, 25, and her older sister Arminda are also still jobless after graduating in 2009 and 2007, respectively.

“Our parents spent so much on our education but we could not find a job. We didn’t expect this,” Arminda said.

The four jobless nurses have found new hope in the Registered Nurse for Health Enhancement and Local Service (RN Heals) project.

The RN Heals is a joint project of the Department of Health (DOH), Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

The four are among the 10,000 RN Heals nurses that will be deployed for one year to 1,221 rural areas that are unserved or underserved communities across the country.

They will receive a stipend of P8,000 from the national government and P2,000 from the local government where they are assigned.

May-ann, Danhill and Arminda will be deployed to Lavezares, one of the poor municipalities here.

“We know it would not be easy because the communities are hard to reach. But we are so happy that we became part of RN Heals. We hope that after our stint here, we’ll be able to find jobs in hospitals,” Arminda said.

DOH Secretary Enrique Ona said the project was designed not only to ensure health care service for poor and remote communities but also to help train nurses.

“RN Heals is our immediate answer to improve access to health services of our poor, especially our mothers and children. Through RN Heals, our nurses are provided with opportunities to learn and serve in both hospital and community settings for one year,” Ona said.

Last Friday, Ona, along with DSWD Secretary Corazon Soliman, DepEd Secretary Armin Luistro and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, led the national launching of RN Heals and the Interdepartmental Convergence for Northern Samar Development.

Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) president Teresita Barcelo estimated that up to 200,000 nurses were jobless as of last year.

Barcelo said it is about time for the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to enforce a moratorium on nursing programs, especially if the school is not performing well in the licensure examination.

“The demand for nurses abroad in the past years had led to the opening of many nursing schools whose students do not even pass the Board exam for nurses. In the end it is the nurses who suffer because there is already an oversupply of nurses in our country,” she lamented.

Barcelo added that in 2000, there were only 172 nursing schools but this bloated to 491 in 2004.

Asked about the PNA’s proposal for a moratorium, Ona said there is no need to do that.

“Let the market forces take its course,” Barcelo said.

“As a matter of fact, I know some nursing schools have already closed. And there are nursing schools where enrolment had gone down by 50 percent. That is how the free market works … that will correct by itself,” Ona said.

Some of those who had plans of going to nursing schools may back out because of the oversupply of nurses.

“The oversupply of nurses is to a certain extent a result of the world economy. Past two years there was a downturn in economy. Many went bankrupt. So there’s no more demand. I think our students know what to do,” he said. –Sheila Crisostomo (The Philippine Star)