Palace welcomes US bill lifting limit on nurses’ migration
First posted 06:07pm (Mla time) May 25, 2006
INQ7.net
Subscribe to Breaking News alerts, send ON EXTRA BREAKING to 2207 for Globe, or send EXTRA BREAKING to 386 for Smart.
MALACAÑANG welcomes a measure filed before the United States Senate that seeks to lift the limit imposed on the number of nurses who can migrate to the US, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s spokesman said Thursday.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye allayed fears by some groups that the measure the US Senate was expected to pass soon will hurt the country's health care system, which was already facing a severe shortage of nurses.
The US legislation removing the cap on the hiring of nurses was needed to help the US cope with its own growing shortage of nurses, reports said.
"New nurses keep coming up, they are replaced at almost the same rate they are recruited, so I think we will not have shortage of manpower," Bunye said.
Besides, Bunye said the government could not prevent its manpower from leaving the country to seek "greener pastures."
He added that Filipino talents were "marketable," being known as world-class workers.
He also said that remittances sent by Filipinos overseas did not only help the country but most especially their families, who use the money to finance the schooling of those willing to take up nursing.
What the government can do is to accelerate the training of those in medical services, Bunye said.
http://news.inq7.net/breaking/index....story_id=76976
Nursing News