Philippines deploys 12,000 nurses every year, says labor group

MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / May 29, 2014) – The Philippines, one of the world’s largest producers of English-speaking nurses, is now deploying overseas an average of 12,000 of them every year, according to the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines.

Citing statistics from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, the TUCP said around 85% of those number are female.

It said the other large groups of professional and technical workers deployed overseas by the Philippines include civil, mechanical, electrical and industrial engineers; composers, musicians and singers; artists and designers; physiotherapists and occupational therapists; teachers; accountants; architects; computer programmers; and midwives.

“There’s no question that the Philippines is now the world’s single biggest supplier of foreign nurses. They are the leading group of professionals that we set out every year abroad, mainly to the Middle East,” said TUCP president Ernesto Herrera.

Herrera said a total of 860 Philippine-educated nurses took the US National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) for the first time from January to March this year.

The number of Filipino nurses taking the NCLEX for the first time, excluding repeaters, is considered a reliable indicator as to how many of them are trying to enter the profession in America.

Herrera said the 860 is fewer compared to 942 Filipino nurses who took the NCLEX for the first time in the same quarter in 2013. A total of 4,034 Filipino nurses took the NCLEX for the first time in the whole of 2013, up 9.8 percent over the 3,673 who went through the same examination in 2012.

“Nonetheless, we expect US employers to continue hiring highly experienced Filipino nurses, though minimally, mainly to replace those who retire, or those who leave America in search of greener pasture,” he said, adding, many US-educated nurses are leaving America for higher pay and improved standards of living in the Middle East or elsewhere. –http://www.mindanaoexaminer.com/news.php?news_id=20140529111231