A blatant discrimination to all filipino nurses

judeamaria, RN · Mar 5, 2009

Thanks for posting.

I don't feel insulted maybe because I really feel that there's a certain truth to it - a decrease in quality of Filipino nursing graduates.

Estrada said New Zealand Nursing Council Director David Wills has no right to question the quality of nursing qualifications and training programs in the Philippines based merely on the observation that the number of nursing students in the country boomed from 30,000 in 2004 to 450,000 in 2008.

"I won't allow this insult to pass, with due respect to the nursing graduates of Kenya," said Estrada who pointed out further that the mere increase in the number of nursing students in the country does not in any way translate to a decrease in the quality of nursing graduates.

I'm sure that the NZ nursing council did not base this merely on the increase in nursing students. Well, there's the percentage of the nursing board passers in the recent years for one, it's always below 50%. It tells something about the quality of nursing education in our country nowadays, right? Logic wise, do the numerous nursing students now really get quality training with limited hospitals to cater them during their RLE? Common sense is all we need to answer this.

If we really want to show them that we are eligible to work in their country then the best thing to do is show our competence by passing their bridging program and other requirements they ask from us. And anyway, it seems to me that they're just concerned for the safety of their citizens and does not intend to discriminate.

Fiona59 · Mar 5, 2009

How is it discrimination to require that all nurses who hope to work in a foreign country meet the requirements set out for safe practice in the country? The same standards that locally trained nurses are required to meet?

My country has gone through this and despite intensive and expensive local training at the employers expense that some nurses just don't live up to their credentials. The safety of the taxpayer always has to be the priority.

5cats · Mar 5, 2009

Sorry, but this article is a joke! And quite a bad one, as the obove poster stated, the numbers are clear proving lack of quality.

5cats

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Mar 5, 2009

I'd like to know how it's New Zealand's fault that the nurse used in their example (who is out the $8000 and has now overstayed her visa) was not able to meet their minimum requirements. As Fiona59 implied, there cannot be one set of standards for locally-trained nurses and another for Filipinas. At the end of the day, their regulatory board is responsible for the competence of the nurses they register.

Just to turn it around, a nurse who was educated in New Zealand would NEVER be able to register in the Philippines, even if there were jobs for nurses there, because of Philippines laws. So how is it discriminatory for New Zealand to expect their minimum standards to be met by any nurse from anywhere (not just from the Philippines) before they'll register them?

Nurse!Nurse!Hello? · Mar 6, 2009

I guess it's a whole lot easier for Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada to complain about "discrimination" than it is to address the real problem with nursing in the Philippines!

Simply questioning the qualifications of nurses doesn't amount to a "slur" given the fact that the majority of Filipino nurses can't even pass their own NLE! How is hearing the truth an "insult?"

I guess it's just easier to blame other countries for your own country's problems. :rolleyes:

greenjungle · Mar 6, 2009

How is it discrimination to require that all nurses who hope to work in a foreign country meet the requirements set out for safe practice in the country? The same standards that locally trained nurses are required to meet?
My country has gone through this and despite intensive and expensive local training at the employers expense that some nurses just don't live up to their credentials. The safety of the taxpayer always has to be the priority.

That's right. Since you are the one applying, you are not going to make the rules, but your employer. If this is what you think, then don't join the bandwagon for NZ.

mauiboy · Mar 7, 2009

i feel offended by your last statement.it's true our country has problems but we're blaming no one for it.nowhere in the article did the senator blame new zealand for the oversupply of nurses in the Philippines. :rolleyes: although i don't argue with the right of the nursing council to impose their own rules, judging the competency of a nurse on the basis of the number of graduates the country is producing is not discriminatory but unfair at the most.it still boils down to the individual.just because he/she graduated from the Philippines doesn't mean the nurse is incompetent.

Fiona59 · Mar 7, 2009

That's right. Since you are the one applying, you are not going to make the rules, but your employer. If this is what you think, then don't join the bandwagon for NZ.

I have no idea why this is directed towards me. I work in Canada and as beautiful as NZ is, have no desire to go there.

Guest289655 · Mar 7, 2009

I don't feel its a discrimination. We all have to pass some certain qualifications.

bettyboop09, LPN, LVN, RN · Mar 7, 2009

it's actually a challenge for me, you know? =)

NurseCubanitaRN2b, BSN, RN · Mar 7, 2009

Why is it that people seem to complain about having to take extra courses when going to another country to work? If you're going to another country, they don't have to accept your education and that country has every right to add to their requirements. If they see that there is a problem with graduates from a certain country they have every right to have them go through a bridge program or whatever it is that they're requiring. They're evaluation transcripts and if they feel that they don't meet the standards, it's the job of the board of nursing to make sure that they do meet the requirements.