The promise of a
brighter future stood on the perceived great demand for nurses abroad for
nursing students and nurses in the Philippines. But this no longer holds
true right now.
Up until the
middle of the last decade, the demand for Filipino nurses in foreign markets
remained strong.
In 2006,
according to the Philippine Nurses Association, Inc. (PNA) the demand from top
destinations such as US and the UK
already reached its peak when quotas for visas in the US had already
been filled up.
Fewer Filipino nursing recruits in the UK stems from the policy shift
advocating homegrown health workers.
Statistics from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA)
revealed that nearly 34,000 nurses were sent abroad from 1995 to 2001. In 2001
alone the country deployed approximately 14,000 nurses to 131 countries.
Lately, in 2009, the number of nurses dispatched abroad increased by only
6.7% to 13,456 from the previous year. This is much lower compared to the 40%
growth from 9,004 in 2007 to 12,618 in 2008. The drop was blamed on the global
economic slowdown ? a sign of the market?s vulnerability to external shocks.
Intriguingly, the Philippines
still continues to train more nurses than the domestic and global economies can
absorb.
The oversupply of Filipino nurses is now placed at approximately 150,000 as
of 2008 (an unofficial estimate). The PNA earlier cited that as many as 1,500
certified nurses were waiting to be hired by major hospitals in 2008. The range
of waiting period for employment is from six to 12 months.
Observers noted the accelerated growth in the number of nursing schools in
the country for the oversupply. It was
reported by blogger and nursing researcher, Jessie Simbulan, that there were
460 accredited nursing schools in the country in 2008.
Of notable concern, also, is the increase of schools offering Licensed
Practical Nursing (LPN) programs, a two-year non-degree course that concentrates
only on the basics of nursing.
This continues regardless of the obvious preference by foreign employers for
graduates of the four-year college-degree nursing course over the two-year
program.
There are myriad of ways to address the oversupply, however many proposals
orbits around guaranteeing the quality of the nursing curriculum to produce
qualified graduates. For this to happen there is a need to shut down under and
non-performing nursing schools.
It was identified by the Commission on Higher Education 112 non-performing
schools out of the over 400 nursing schools operating in the country. It is
reported that only less than 20% of their graduates are passing the nursing
board exams.
The PNA has already urged the Commission on Higher Education to stop the
spread of underperforming schools and move to set up new or improve the quality
of the existing Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) programs.
Regardless of these efforts, the oversupply of Filipino nurses is expected
to continue. This year, current reports put the number of the new nursing
graduates at 40,000 - most of whom will possibly be included in the ranks of
the underemployed and unemployed.
Knowing this, it appears that the nursing program is not anymore a surefire
option to get out of poverty.