Arroyo announces 'NARS' for unemployed nurses

Ginger's Mom, MSN, RN · Feb 13, 2009

Hoss,

You post the most interesting posts.

My question is if there are positions available, why aren't the nurses taking them?

Any professional experience is better than zero experience or volunteering.

Most of the new jobs in the USA are not in hospitals but in outpatient areas. Also from what I have seen the shortage of nurses in the US and Canada are in rural areas not places like NYC or LA. Taking these positions would benefit the people in the Philippines and give the nurse experience and pay check ( I do realize it would be a small check but it is better than giving it away for free).

One last comment, the most rewarding point of nursing is interacting with patients, this would give nurses to learn the true joy of nursing.

Ginger's Mom, MSN, RN · Feb 13, 2009

Hoss you post the most interesting articles.

Does this mean there are nursing positions in the Philippines? Why don't the nurses take these positions? Are the dangerous?

I am guessing they don't pay much but isn't any pay better than zero pay?

Posters have posted here that there is going to be an explosion of jobs in the USA in the next 20 years. While some of this is true, the areas where nurses will be needed are going to be in the rural areas of the USA and not in hospitals. This opportunity sounds like a good one for the Philippine nurses.

bettyboop09, LPN, LVN, RN · Feb 13, 2009

One last comment, the most rewarding point of nursing is interacting with patients, this would give nurses to learn the true joy of nursing.

definitely it is true, but i guess not that applicable to the general, because most of the nurses here are really after for an experience in a tertiary hospitals for them to be able to have a good work abroad. both sides could offer less salary but for practical reasons and or particular goals, then they'll surely choose to have an experience in a tertiary hospital, specifically.

Hoss · Feb 13, 2009

Thanks AlexK; at least it is a small start to offer new grads an opportunity. Unfortunately, 5,000 - 6,000 is woefully below meeting the needs of tens of thousands of unemployed new grads each semester!! Bear in mind, when they speak of "rural" in the Philippines, they mean "RURAL"...no electricity much of the time and very poor sanitation. Even 6 months duty under "rural" conditions can be a very risky proposal to one's own health. On the flip side, the people a nurse would serve under these conditions are the most disenfranchised from any health care services, so a nurse would truly find the work challenging and hopefully rewarding as these are the poorest of poor Filipinos.

Hoss

Ginger's Mom, MSN, RN · Feb 14, 2009

Thanks for your answer. As an experienced nurse, any nursing experience is better than being unemployed. Plus the fact is that the new positions being created in the USA will not be hospital based they will be in the community. If I had to choose between two nurses, one who had no experience or a nurse who worked in rural areas, I would choose the rural nurse.

Another issue, I find confusing, I could never afford to be unemployed for years, how do these unemployed nurses survive? I would think and job with a paycheck would be preferable over sitting at home or volunteering my time.

judeamaria, RN · Feb 14, 2009

I have heard about this the other day, I felt a bit happy that finally the government has offered a solution to the unemployment problems of newly grad Pinoy nurses. I just want to know where to apply?

judeamaria, RN · Feb 14, 2009

MANILA, Philippines - A health group has accused President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's administrationb of driving Filipino nurses out of the country to work abroad, effectively neglecting areas in the Philippines in need of proper health care.

"For the longest time, Mrs. Arroyo has known about the dearth of health personnel in the rural areas but has done nothing about it and instead, encouraged Filipino nurses to leave and work abroad in droves," said Dr. Geneve E. Rivera, Health Alliance for Democracy (Head) secretary-general, in a statement on Tuesday.

Rivera said that the President has allowed nursing schools to "mushroom and mass-produce nurses" for the needs of other countries. Some figures have shown that the number of nursing students jumped from 30,000 in 2004 to almost 450,000 in 2008.

"Now, because so many nurses are in dire straits for being unemployed, she is taking advantage of the situation by offering them the NARS program, which is only temporary and may even hurt the rural communities in the long run," she said.

The Nurses Assigned to Rural Areas or NARS program of the Arroyo administration is supposed to be a "stop-gap measure" against unemployment amid the financial crunch.

Under the NARS program, at least five nurses will be sent to each of the 1,000 poorest towns in the country and will be paid at least P8,000 monthly for a whole year. Arroyo also urged local governments to add at least P2,000 to the nurses' salaries as allowances.

But according to Head, Arroyo is just exploiting the large number of skilled but unemployed and inexperienced nurses by offering them temporary jobs with lower pay rather than "a tenured position with the appropriate compensation."

Rivera added that Arroyo just wants to show that she is doing something to address the health care needs of Filipinos and the worsening unemployment rate.

"Unfortunately, the real bottom line for Mrs. Arroyo is still to force Filipino nurses to work abroad and send dollar-denominated remittances to stave off the effects of the global financial crisis," she said.

President Arroyo has previously said that she hopes for a day when working abroad would only be an option for Filipinos.

"Nawa'y dumating ang araw na ang pagtrabaho sa ibayong dagat ay isang career option lamang, at di ang tanging choice para sa masipag na Pilipino," she told Filipino expatriates during her visit to Qatar last week.

[i hope the time comes when working overseas would only seem like a career option and not the only choice for hardworking Filipinos]

Instead of the NARS program, the health group wants the Arroyo government to open plantilla positions for nurses to work in the rural areas and in public hospitals nationwide, thereby encouraging them to stay and serve in the countryside.

It called for the immediate implementation of the Nursing Act of 2002 and the Magna Carta of Health Workers so that nurses who are currently employed in the public sector will be motivated to stay.

"The Arroyo government should face the issue of health care squarely, rather than offering carrot-and-stick approaches," said Rivera. - GMANews.TV

esjay · Feb 15, 2009

Another issue, I find confusing, I could never afford to be unemployed for years, how do these unemployed nurses survive?

majority of us are still living with our parents, hence our parents are still supporting us even after college :cry:

Ginger's Mom, MSN, RN · Feb 15, 2009

Would be easier on your parents to work? Even if they had to supplement your income you would be gaining nursing experience.

suzanne4, RN · Feb 15, 2009

These types of programs were actually required to be completed years ago. Every single graduate had to complete at least 6 months in rural areas where they were the only provider for the entire area. And I mean provider, they were the only one with any medical experience of any kind.

But what bothers me about it now as that many of the new grads to not have the actual patient experience to be the only one out there providing care. Training is not the same as it used to be.

But I applaud your president for trying to do something; but it is not going to be make a dent in the numbers of unemployed. There is still the issue of the poor economy all over the world right now in the majority of countries.

pillilialuis9652 · Feb 16, 2009

i think this is a good start for those nurses who are willing to work in rural areas.but still i and my friends are a little bit apprehensive about it,there are some issues that should be answered first before they can implement this kind of program.

safety for the nurses when they are in secluded rural areas should be address,don't get me wrong here i know that people in the provinces are good natured, but there are still bad elements in some certain areas, these nurses that are to be deployed by the government might get kidnapped or killed by rebels or insurgents.i sure do not want to read in the newspaper one day that a nurse who is working in this said program in mindanao being kidnapped,god forbids

does the basic necessities are given when they are put in these provincial areas, like shelter, food and living allowances, especially are they given vaccines before they work as rural nurses, there is still some tropical disease that are endemic on certain places for example malaria.

well this is one topic also that was brought up from our discussion about that there are a lot of nurses today that do not want to get there hands dirty, how do they screen these nurses?they should be at least given an immersion for two weeks or so if they really can tough it up for one year or so.there should be a guideline set not that the applicants are just fresh graduates that is not enough to be in this kind of program because this kind of job is really hard, a lot of doctors who had graduated would rather take up nursing than to work in provinces, they know that it is not worth taking because of the risks and low payment. but i guess it is better than nothing right?there are a lot of young,resouceful and dynamic nurses out there that are willing to go on with this nars program.i hope this will be successful and that all of these nurses are able to do there jobs to the best of their abilities