No job in nursing in the Philippines, what to do?

misspowers · Nov 25, 2008

In the Philippines, family members stay together to take care of each other. Children who have their own jobs still stay to help their parents with the bills and all expenses. Likewise, parents enjoy the perks of doing nothing. We take care of our parents until their dying ages that is why long term facilities do not thrive here.

The way I see in most American TV shows (I am not generalizing all Americans...and I am not insinuating that all Americans are like this) if children stay at their parents house longer, they tend to be leeches. Atleast that is how it is depicted in some American shows or movies. In our culture, we serve our parents. Right after graduation, It is understandable that it will take some time before you will land a stable job. While waiting for the coveted career to start, we stay in our parents house to serve them.

Our support system is intact, I know it is very difficult to understand for our American friends. Our help extends up to our grandparents and aunties...Believe it or not, there are households who have 20 to 30 members in the house. There will be leeches here but the family support system is intact. You will appreciate this more if you visit us during fiestas and family gatherings.

cheesey · Nov 25, 2008

sigh!!! although.. its a relief that im not alone in this whatever "journey of certified Rns here in the phils. ...

i did a 6 month training as a nurse trainee in a govt hospital..i paid for it..i did learn a lot and it was good training.. but still im not hired..and i need to be employed...buhu...

and ive sent resumes all over and and they all say they are not hiring at the moment..

im also considering aus ..but then..i dont know where to start..

geez, im just lost..

Ginger's Mom, MSN, RN · Nov 25, 2008

One issue I never see discussed is working while going to nursing school. Here in the USA many nurses get their first job because they worked as a nursing assistant while in school. Do many Philippine nurses work as nurse's assistant while in school? That is a great way to network to get your first job.

What types of jobs do nursing students do while in school?

pinkroyalty18, LPN, LVN · Nov 25, 2008

I never used the word loser. Here in the US students go away to college, not only do they learn college level courses but learn to be independent in their daily living ( how to budget money, how to do laundry, how to prepare a meal, how to avoid temptations of life). As a parent you doin't tell you kid what to study or what profession to go into. Both my lkids went overseas in college, which was a great experience to learn a different culture. It seems that is not an experience your Universities provide, the opportunity to live at school and travel.
Back to the topic of working in the USA, when looking for employment the employer will ask what previous jobs a you have had. That is a standard question, you can tell by that answer alone if someone lives at home with their parents. Graduating from school and not working at all - is not desirable in the USA unless you have a great explanation. For example if one was the sole caretaker of an aged parent who has just died the employer would understand. I bring up this difference since the majority of the posts here are about the American Dream. Having any job, shows personal responsiblity and committment to a job. Sitting at home praying is not seen as a proactive way of gaining employment or helping your family.

And i thought we are over this topic...

Anyhoo,just want to clarify some points..

1.Here in the US students go away to college, not only do they learn college level courses but learn to be independent in their daily living ( how to budget money, how to do laundry, how to prepare a meal, how to avoid temptations of life)

Even if we are here in our parents house,we actually do learn even since we were still kids on how to do the laundry (and most learn it manually),how to cook a meal from scratch,how to iron our clothes. Children from below the average family are expected to do or help on those chores. No need to move away just to learn those things.

As for avoiding temptations of life,I think that every people,whether they live with their parents or not,deal with those things everyday.

And regarding the skills on how to budget our money, a lot of people from the provinces go to cities just to study. And most live in dormitories where they will be the one responsible to budget their own money and do the chores themselves.

2.As a parent you doin't tell you kid what to study or what profession to go into.

True and i couldnt agree more. there are filipino parents like that and im sure there are american parents like that too.. Not all of us who took nursing was forced by our parents. We were given the autonomy to choose what we want and choosing nursing was our choice,not theirs.

3..It seems that is not an experience your Universities provide, the opportunity to live at school and travel.

Is this the same with exchange student programs? Because some universities here actually offer that to few lucky students.

And some universities actually offer their students to have the OJTs outside of the country. I know because my close friend just went to US on a student visa.

4.Sitting at home praying is not seen as a proactive way of gaining employment or helping your family.

Some of us are sitting at home for the mean time because we are still in the process of looking for a job(be it nursing or not )and waiting for calls from potential employers.. its not that we are just sitting here waiting for that American dream to come and wont do anything as of the present because as i pointed out in the other thread, we take everything you said into consideration. We do have plans to work while waiting -just that there aren't as many job opportunities here in our country and getting a job is as easy as 123... But we will come to that soon.

pinkroyalty18, LPN, LVN · Nov 25, 2008

pinkroyalty18
thank you so much for your reply. how about you? have you put i any thought abt this...? i am afraid for my safety in saudi.. hehe:) i might try that but only as a last option.

ooppsss sorry for the late reply.i just read your message..yes,i might consider saudi arabia if i still cannot get any job here..I am still waiting for calls from the hospitals here so if things wont work out for me this december,off to saudi then..Some people says its dangerous and some says its ok.. For me,i'll take the risk. I will try to pass my application as soon as i have the money to go there in manila again.

and sorry again for my previous off topic reply. In respect to you who's only asking for ways to get through the unemployment,that will be my last reply regarding cultural differences..

Good luck to all of us!:)

Silverdragon102, BSN · Nov 25, 2008

This thread is going off topic but if we are going to learn how other cultures live then this would be a good time to educate people on how things work in the Philippines without the need to attack members. Please post experiences and friendly debates

sheenahRN · Nov 25, 2008

One issue I never see discussed is working while going to nursing school. Here in the USA many nurses get their first job because they worked as a nursing assistant while in school. Do many Philippine nurses work as nurse's assistant while in school? That is a great way to network to get your first job.
What types of jobs do nursing students do while in school?

Interesting. We don't have that type of program wherein we can work as nursing assistants as we are also studying. Although I agree, it would be a good way to build a network for a future career. The nursing assistants here are usually midwives, and not once have I heard of a program like the one you are specifying. Its simply not done here.

jennygump · Nov 25, 2008

AlexK49,

The Philippines has an oversupply of nurses. For every 1 nursing position open there are over 1,000 BSN-RN's fighting for the position. With that said, there are no nursing assistant positions for students given the oversupply.

Pinoy RN's,

Here abroad many if not most students pay their way through college. For example, a co-worker of mine while waiting to get into medical school worked as a "gardener" in the summer. Another guy works as a bartender. Many others work in retail, call center, or other like jobs.

And yet even though you work in the summer, that is not enough to pay for University and cost of living. So, they take out a student loan. When these guys get out of college, they have NEGATIVE net worth, and begin with a position of debt. They want and need to get a job immediately to start paying-off the loan.

In the Philippines there seems to be an unwritten rule that a good parent supports a child all through their student years. Abroad, many college students are on their own.

In the Philippines children support the parents in their old age. Many parents live with their children. And many parents receive financial support from their children. Abroad, parents go to a nursing home. And parents in their old age hope that their savings are enough. In a manner of speaking, parents in their old age are on their own.

These are my observations of societal differences between here and there.

Hushdawg · Nov 26, 2008

One issue I never see discussed is working while going to nursing school. Here in the USA many nurses get their first job because they worked as a nursing assistant while in school. Do many Philippine nurses work as nurse's assistant while in school? That is a great way to network to get your first job.
What types of jobs do nursing students do while in school?

Nursing students don't really have the option of working for any income in a hospital while in school.. They are placed in hospitals for clinical duty and this is part of the education process.

During this training they learn all the useful things that are forbidden by the US hospitals, such as washing latex gloves for re-use and cleaning other equipment that should be discarded instead of being used on other patients. Joy.

The only healthcare related job that a nursing student could take is as a nurse assistant or a caregiver; those positions pay only about 7,000 pesos monthly (about like earning a salary of 10,000 in the USA).

The thing is, that many would rather take Medical Transcription jobs which take just as much time but pay double or better.

Networking in the hospitals here is still pretty useless because even if you are hired as a nurse you're only going to earn about 10,000 pesos a month (which is like earning a salary of 12,000 in the USA).

Honestly, the only reason most Filipinos study nursing is to get a job overseas, not to work here in the Philippines. That doesn't always mean the USA of course. Saudi Arabia is still the #1 destination by volume of Pinoy nurses.

Ginger's Mom, MSN, RN · Nov 26, 2008

USA nursing students have clinicals. The ratio between instructor to student maxs out at 10 student to one instructor but most of the time it is 1 instructor to 6 students.

Washing supplies would not qualify for clinical experience. Clincial time is soley doing patient care, assessments, dressings, catherizations, medication adminstration, IV therapy, and patient teaching. I wonder if the Board of Nursing know that cleaning is considered clinical time since this is disallowed in the US. As an instructor, I have to provide a rooster of patients and document the clinical time and experience.

One works as aide not so much for the money but the experience. It helps the students learn to prioritze their patient needs.

As far as working as nurse in the Philippines, desptie the low pay, to move to another country you need experience. If one is serious about applying to another country, they need to gain experience in their homeland.

Hushdawg · Nov 27, 2008

I definitely appreciate where you are coming from Alex49 but the problem here is HOW to get that experience? As many others have stated, the ratio of nurses to positions is very heavily tilted.

Washing supplies is not EVERYTHING done in Clinical, let me be clear on that.. but it does take up a lot of the clinical time.

Nursing students are frequently used as "grunt workers" for the hospitals here and that is a massive problem that only the PNA and government could solve... of course the government won't solve it unless they can make money from the solution so that's out of the question...

Back to the point at hand. What types of work experience would be looked on well by American Hospitals outside of Nursing Assistant positions?

Ginger's Mom, MSN, RN · Nov 27, 2008

I am a diploma grad, historically diploma nurses were used as grunt workers. The National League of Nursing and the American Nurses Association change the program and monitored to ensure diploma nursing students were doing clinical work. So I it is up to the Philippine Nurses to pressure the government to set standards and monitor that the students are getting professional nursing experience. Graduates should report back to the schools that the quality of their program is lacking .

I think the issue is that when the Philippine nurses come to the USA or Canada, they have not had clinical experiences, they are not able to monitor IV therapy, complete assessments, do complete care, etc. I have read that twenty students share one patient , it is impossible to learn. That should not be considered clinical experience. Now many hospitals are moving to everything electronic charting.

Unit secretaries, Medical Assistants, Or techs are jobs that enhance the students experience.