IMPORTANT:UNEMPLOYED NURSES need to ACT NOW!

[Hoss]

If you are UNEMPLOYED as a nurse in the Philippines (that means you do not have a job that PAYS you to work as a nurse, INCLUDING volunteers) you need to write to the Dept of Labor immediately and voice your concern over the lack of hospitals willing to hire new graduates. DOLE is asking HOSPITALS ONLY if there is a shortage of nurses, which they are COMPLAINING that they HAVE TO GET VOLUNTEERS due to the SHORTAGE OF NURSES!!! This is an outrageous twist of the truth when some hospitals have 1,000 APPLICATIONS for every nursing job they offer!

You better get word to the PNA immediately to defend the nurses position that the hospitals are usurping new graduate nurses by forcing them to "volunteer" due to the oversupply. Right now the 67,000 hospitals are complaining there is a "shortage of applicants" to the DOLE and therefore beg for volunteers to make up the difference!! Here is the story from the Asian Journal:

http://www.asianjournal.com/?c=187&a=29248

Oversupply or shortage of nurses? DOLE wants to know

MANILA, Philippines--Officials of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) are set to meet with hospital owners to find out if there is an oversupply or shortage of nursing graduates in the country.

DOLE Secretary Marianito Roque said that while there have been reports of oversupply of nurses, hospital owners have been complaining about the lack of applicants for nursing jobs. Nurses could be more interested in getting overseas jobs due to much higher pay.

"We will be holding dialogues with hospital administrators to find out about these supposed vacancies," Roque said in a phone interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net.

He said the government agency would likewise be conducting an inventory of nursing graduates. "Last year, the hospital owners had voiced out their complaints about the lack of nurses in the Philippines," Roque said.

"The demand for nurses abroad is actually increasing," Roque said, adding that Canada and Southern Australia have been coordinating with the DOLE to hire nursing graduates to work for them.

He added that Libya and Saudi Arabia have likewise been actively hiring Filipino nurses. "The situation is not that bad," Roque said.

University of the Philippines College of Nursing Dean Dr. Josefina Tuazon and Philippine Nurses Association National President Leah Paquiz earlier disclosed the oversupply of nurses.

Tuazon said that because of the numerous nursing graduates this year, the country's 67,728 hospitals had to get volunteer nurses to accommodate the fresh graduates.

She pointed out that the high number of graduates of Practical Nursing, a two-year course that focuses on the basics of nursing, aggravated the unemployment problem.

In a statement to the media, Paquiz said: "There is no local demand or positions for practical nurses within the Philippine Health Care Delivery system particularly in the light of the oversupply of nurses and subsequent unemployment of fresh nursing graduates."

(inquirer.net)

[lenjoy03, RN]

That's the result of what Mr. Brion stated few months ago. I hope now he realized his mistake. He just added that issue to the current problem.

And yes, hospitals are complaining of the lack of employed nurses. And we also complain too for the too much workload we have everyday. But the problem is, hospitals just have too much pride not to state that they have no budget to hire new nurses. Instead, they let RNs pay them for working with them. I know there are other issues behind this and I hope that hospitals can open this up to the public.

[dave787]

actualy you cant blame evrything to the goverment. blame also to the graduates who took this profession not by heart choice.

[lenjoy03, RN]

The government is partly to blame. And I'm only pointing out about the LPN who added to the problem.

In a statement to the media, Paquiz said: “There is no local demand or positions for practical nurses within the Philippine Health Care Delivery system particularly in the light of the oversupply of nurses and subsequent unemployment of fresh nursing graduates.”

(inquirer.net)

This line only. I should have been more specific. peace!

They were promised by this and that without even explaining further. And of course, the students are partly to blame for not asking or being curious of what they're getting themself into.

[pinkroyalty18, LPN, LVN]

i thought about that before too..it is quite ironic when i hear phil hospitals complain that they have shortage of nurses and doctors... i hear news report on television saying the exodus of nurses abroad has caused a devastating impact on our health care because of nursing staff shortage...with that twisted information,a lot of "patriotic" Filipinos hated us coz they were thinking that the healthcare system is in jeopardy because of the nurses who are willing to leave the country for the dollars......but truth is,there are a lot of applicants willing to replace those positions but some hospitals choose not to hire and just settle on volunteers..why? i exactly don't know but probably due to lack of funds.

There could have been a lot of open position for nurses if only these hospitals follow a reasonable nurse:patient ratio and not just settle on hiring volunteers...they seem to have the alas as of now and so they take advantage of us new nurses who are desperate for work experience.

[Hoss]

The important part of the article notes that DOLE is "Meeting with Hospital Administrators" to verify the so called Shortage of Nurses.

The DOLE is NOT LISTENING TO NURSES!!

That is a BIG warning bell to get the PNA and Nurses together and let the DOLE know immediately that just the opposite is true. The Nursing Profession will be left without a voice if only the hospitals are allowed to state their side of the issue.

I suggest those unemployed nurses who are PNA members immediately write to BOTH the PNA and DOLE to get your voices heard.

The hospitals do not want to loose their "free labor" nurses who pay for training, and they surely do not want to raise the salaries to a standard that reflects the professional nurses worth to the community.

IF YOU REMAIN SILENT, you will LOOSE!!

Hoss