Lawmaker pushes permanent solutions for unemployed nurses

Zambales Rep. Ma. Milagros “Mitos” Magsaysay is calling on the government to take more aggressive action toward the rising number of unemployed nurses in the country following the drop in the demand for health care professionals overseas.

“The Department of Health (DoH) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) should work together to address this problem as this has been looming even before the decline in the demand for nurses abroad,” Magsaysay said.

“The government should have been prepared for this eventuality and had contingencies planned for the unemployed nurses.”

Magsaysay said that what is ironic is that the government has an oversupply of nursing graduates and professionals but government hospitals are still lacking in qualified nurses to serve millions of poor Filipinos who receive health care from public hospitals and health centers.

“Expanding the number of nurses in government hospitals can help narrow down the unemployment gap among the profession and provide for these nurses experience in practicing what they learned in school in order to help people with ailments rather than have them accept positions or employment that are not their forte,” solon said.

According to records from the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), some 290,000 registered nurses are unemployed as of March 31, discounting some 37,000 who passed the nursing board last July.

Based on reports, the government is embarking on a P1.696 billion plan to temporarily deploy nurses for the DoH’s Doctors to the Barrio Program which is expected to employ 12,000 new nurses and 1,000 midwives to under served communities.

“What the government needs is a concrete solution to the unemployment problem. If the positions are temporary, then the problem will still persist after their contract is over,” Magsaysay said.

“Provide permanent positions for the program and augment the number of nurses in government-run hospitals, and find a place for the remaining more than 200,000 who are still unemployed,” she stressed.

“As for the Department of Education, it’s high time for officials to stress the impact of this problem to those who are still planning to take nursing and encourage students to enroll in courses that will cater to future demands of the market locally and internationally.” –Charlie V. Manalo, Daily Tribune