Palace advice to jobless nursing graduates: Join gov’t health programs

Even Malacañang has acknowledged that there is now an oversupply of nurses in the country and has advised jobless nursing graduates to look for alternative jobs or join the government’s health programs where there is a dearth of health workers.

“If you ask our health officials, they will say that there are tooa many nurses already, so let’s stop (taking up nursing) in the meantime. There are other courses we can consider,” deputy presidential spokesman Abigal Valte yesterday said in an interview over Radyo ng Bayan.

“While nursing may have been the hot course three to four years ago, now we have an oversupply that we have to contend with,” she added.

Valte noted that while there are certain courses, including nursing, could be attractive and promising for the moment, “it may not translate into a job four years or five years after you graduate.”

That was why President Aquino has instructed the Departments of Labor and Employment (DoLE), Commission on Higher Education, Technical Skills Development Authority, Department of Education and National Statistics Office “to work together and come up with the advisory for our students which will point the courses that they can consider so that when they graduate they will still be viable in that market.”

“It’s not like we’re just watching by the sidelines and watching our students graduate without jobs,” she said.

She cited the role of DoLE which is now looking for alternative markets where our job-seekers could divert their attention to.

“The DoLE will come up with information on other job markets that are available for our nurses abroad,” Valte said.

Valte pointed out another alternative for the estimated 300,000 nursing graduates who have yet to land jobs overseas.

She cited the RN HEELS program of the Department of Health where health workers are deployed three months with rural health units and three months with a public hospital.

Valte said there were actually three RN HEELS nurses who have even asked for an extension of their stay in the program.

“They asked for the extension to gain more experience. They’re not actually a salary but allowances but they are interns in our health units,” she said.  –Rocky Nazareno, Daily Tribune