The government will look for other programs that could help nursing graduates get jobs after college, Malacañang yesterday said amid growing number of unemployed nurses in the country.
Deputy presidential spokesman Abigail Valte said in a radio interview over dzRB the Aquino administration will look for appropriate programs to assist nursing graduates in finding jobs.
Valte was responding to questions from Palace reporters who asked her how the government is addressing the rising number of nursing graduates that competes for jobs after leaving schools.
The Philippines is known to have more than 200,000 unemployed nurses.
“We will have to see. We will look for other programs like the RN HEALS so we can help nursing graduates,” Valte said.
The Palace spokesman was referring to the Nurses for Health Enhancement and Local Services (RN HEALS) program being carried out by the Department of Health (DoH) that started early this year.
The program employs registered nurses and is being implemented jointly by the DoH and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Valte said that in the last two months, the DoH was able to deploy 10,000 nurses all over the country under the RN HEALs program.
The nurses will help in the implementation of the conditional cash transfer program of the government.
According to Health Secretary Enrique Ona, the RN HEALS program is aimed at addressing the shortage of skilled nurses in 1,221 rural and “unserved or under-served” communities in the country for one year.
Registered nurses who qualify for the RN HEALS program are given an allowance of P8,000 per month, plus a minimum of P2,000 from the local government unit (LGU) they are serving.
LGUs are in charge of providing them with board and lodging. And aside from supervising
the nurses, LGUs also ensure their security.
Meanwhile, the President will be the guest of honor and keynote speaker of the 102nd Commencement Exercise of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine (UPCM) that will be held at the SMX Convention Center of the SM Mall of Asia today.
The graduation ceremony will be held simultaneous with the closing ceremony of the Philippine General Hospital’s post-graduate internship course.
Welcoming the President will be UP President Alfredo Pascual, UP Chancellor Ramon Arcadio, UPCM Dean Alberto Roxas, and UPCM Regionalization Program and Return Service Agreement Chairman and PGH Director Jose Gonzales.
The UPCM Class 2011 and the PGH Post-Graduate Interns Batch2011 are composed of 153 and 110 graduates from UP and from different medical schools all over the country, respectively.
The newest batch of medical practitioners has expressed their desire to emulate the President’s genuine leadership and service to the country in their respective practices.
The Philippine Medical School, forerunner of the UPCM was established by virtue of the Second Philippine Commission Act 1415 dated December 1, 1905, as a response to the urgent need for more doctors in the country. PNA
