No More Nurse Volunteer Programs! DOH Orders Termination of "Nurse Volunteer Programs

World International

Published

Department of Health Secretary Enrique T. ONA, issued memorandum 2011-0238 mandating to terminate all "Nurse Volunteer Programs", "Volunteer Training Programs for Nurses" and all similar or related programs, in all DOH-retained hospitals in the Philippines. "The current practice of registered nurses "volunteering" in hospitals to gain 'work experience' and/or to obtain a certificate of work experience and for purposes of meeting requirements for employment abroad, is not consistent with the provisions of this law (Republic Act 9418: Volunteer Act of 2007)."

In addition, many hospitals have implemented "nurse volunteerism" in the guise of "training programs" in order to justify the collection of "training fees", whereby such basic skills training put no added value to the professional career of the nurses.

Therefore, all DOH hospitals are hereby directed to discontinue all existing programs involving nurses who deliver free services in exchange for work experience/volunteer nurses, volunteer trainings, and all other similar programs. All hospitals-based trainings for nurses should follow a definite career progression to be defined and accredited by the DOH and Professional Regulatory Commision-Board of Nursing.

from: http://nurseslabs.com/news/no-more-nurse-volunteer-programs-doh-orders-termination-of-nurse-volunteer-programs/

SO WHAT NOW?? :uhoh3: :up:/:down:

Come on, this is a good news. We were exploited because we "beg" them to accept us as volunteer or training just to gain experience or have edge from others but in reality they still lack nurses to cater the needs of their patients. So if volunteerism/trainings will be eliminated, then this jobs will be available for us. We can make money for the work and experiences that we toil. For the unexperienced nurses, don't feel sad or bad about this news, you should take in mind that all of us undergo from being a novice nurse and experiences are gained through orientation with the hospital or training wherein we are the ones being payed and not the other way around.

i super agree with you. We should see the goodness of this memorandum rather than thinking of losing voluntary positions which in fact, will not be accredited in foreign lands since certificate of employment is the one needed. =D

i super agree with you. We should see the goodness of this memorandum rather than thinking of losing voluntary positions which in fact, will not be accredited in foreign lands since certificate of employment is the one needed. =D

I agree that we should stop the exploitation of us nurses, for one, volunteer is not counted as experience, whether you are in Saudi, the US or any other country. We strive to be volunteers to gain experience, but what we dont know is that we are exploited already. If you happen to see the news on the volunteer nurse who was shouted upon by the doctor, and he was accidentally injured by the doctor with a scalpel from an AIDS patient, you would be scared as volunteers dont have insurance, the hospital would not even give the time of day to heal you let alone take note of your plight since they know you need them. Its a business for the hospitals who are not hiring nurses since why should I hire nurses when in fact I can get thousands of applicants for free, and not pay them, while letting them do the dirty work.

I hope this memorandum pushes through already as I know one government hospital in taft who is still conducting its training for 6 months and charging 10000, although I would say this is a great program but still, they should follow also the memo set upon by the DOH.

Come on, this is a good news. We were exploited because we "beg" them to accept us as volunteer or training just to gain experience or have edge from others but in reality they still lack nurses to cater the needs of their patients. So if volunteerism/trainings will be eliminated, then this jobs will be available for us. We can make money for the work and experiences that we toil. For the unexperienced nurses, don't feel sad or bad about this news, you should take in mind that all of us undergo from being a novice nurse and experiences are gained through orientation with the hospital or training wherein we are the ones being payed and not the other way around.

I agree with you, this is something we (unemployed nurses) should be happy for. Let's not settle with the volunteer nurse certification that the hospitals are giving us for our free labor. This memorandum would eventually force other institutions to hire nurses, with the cycle that nurses getting enough job experience to get outside the country would mean new batches to be hired. This could be the start of cutting down the numbers of unemployed nurses in our country. As well those who have opted to work in other field (due to overpopulation) would be given the chance as well to land a job in our field of profession.

i just came from east ave this morning because i was supposed to be sched on the nov-dec batch of volunteers. then the woman on the NTO told us that the memorandum of DOH volunteer program was implemented. :( i don't know, but it was a sad news for me. volunteering in a gov't hospital where there is no payment involved is a big help for us unemployed nurses. the madam in NTO even stated that we should petition and hear out our thoughts regarding the memorandum. she also told us that they're just following orders but there are NO NEW PROGRAM after IMPLEMENTING THE MEMORANDUM. we're just hanged! :uhoh3:

Don't feel bad, this memorandum might help us unemployed nurses to finally land a job rather than just collect certificates from being a volunteer nurse and still have a hard time getting hired despite having excellent credentials of paid training and volunteer work. I was once a trainee of East Avenue Medical Center, I passed their exams and interviews that their institution requires. They made us attend the orientation/debriefing wherein they tackle not only the rules and regulations of the hospital but as well as the policy and benefits you can get from being hired whether contractual or regular. They even explained how to call in sick as well as applying for Vacation Leave etc. I know they never promise us that we will be accepted but being able to hear those things somehow gave us all a lift in our spirit that once we did our best in the OJT we would eventually be hired, it may not be as soon as it ends but we we're hoping that one day they will probably call us. But unfortunately 2 years since I had my OJT there and after leaving a competitive feedback from staff and head nurse, still they never called anyone from our batch. And that's when I found out that they were actually having routine of accepting OJTs after every batch were through, just like being a volunteer nurse. Plus you don;t get any legal proof that you had your OJT there aside from the fact that you brag about it in your resume. They will not give you any sorts of certification whatsoever. To cut it short it was an awesome experience in terms of learning and developing your hands on skill but that's all you'll ever get from it. Just imagine if they'll no longer have batches of both volunteer nurses and OJT, I guess that's the only time they'll take the hiring seriously because EAMC is big hospital and it was difficult for their staff to manage an entire ward with a minimum number of staff nurses. All I'm saying is that, let's look on the brighter side of this memorandum. :)

Specializes in Renal/Hemodialysis.

I just can't see a valid reason why some nurses felt sad upon knowing that the hospital where they will be "volunteering" will not push with it's program anymore. Isn't it better because these hospitals will be forced to hire more nurses than just rely on the manpower provided by the volunteer nurses? I know many new grads wanted to have their feet wet on the hospital floor, but I think it's about time they get compensated for what they do.

This mind set of doing volunteer work has been passed on to many batch of nurses ever since it has become so hard to find nursing jobs for so long, that it has thought to be a norm nowadays. It's truly disheartening. If you'll be following my posts, you can see in an old post that I used to do volunteer work too. But then, during that time, there was no such memorandum that was being implemented so I have to do volunteer work as it was a part of the hiring process in that certain hospital.

I wish nurses could see the brighter side of this memorandum. This may mark the end for the era of nurse volunteerism in the Philippines. God bless us all nurses!

The volunteer nursing program filled the hospitals with no cost labor. Wage paying hiring programs were stopped because of volunteer nursing programs. Now they are going to have to pay for what they were getting for free for so many years.

Young nurses should be dancing in the streets. No more volunteer nursing on your resumes.

Come on, this is a good news. We were exploited because we "beg" them to accept us as volunteer or training just to gain experience or have edge from others but in reality they still lack nurses to cater the needs of their patients. So if volunteerism/trainings will be eliminated, then this jobs will be available for us. We can make money for the work and experiences that we toil. For the unexperienced nurses, don't feel sad or bad about this news, you should take in mind that all of us undergo from being a novice nurse and experiences are gained through orientation with the hospital or training wherein we are the ones being payed and not the other way around.

yes i agree... i have pending application in one of the Hospitals here in Manila and now i have high hopes that i will be hired this year (crossing fingers) because of this memo. For me this is really a good news!

Be hired and be paid . . .

I am an MAN Student of Arellano University, Legarda

I want to know how nurse volunteers feel about their job.

I need 25 volunteer nurses as respondents for my thesis on nurse volunteerism. Email me if interested or PM me in facebook [email protected]

i just hope that the private hospitals will be included in this memorandum *sigh*

i just hope that the private hospitals will be included in this memorandum *sigh*

Yeah ur right... it will b a big help 4 all of us unemployed nurses... let's just keep on praying :nurse:

Don't feel bad, this memorandum might help us unemployed nurses to finally land a job rather than just collect certificates from being a volunteer nurse and still have a hard time getting hired despite having excellent credentials of paid training and volunteer work. I was once a trainee of East Avenue Medical Center, I passed their exams and interviews that their institution requires. They made us attend the orientation/debriefing wherein they tackle not only the rules and regulations of the hospital but as well as the policy and benefits you can get from being hired whether contractual or regular. They even explained how to call in sick as well as applying for Vacation Leave etc. I know they never promise us that we will be accepted but being able to hear those things somehow gave us all a lift in our spirit that once we did our best in the OJT we would eventually be hired, it may not be as soon as it ends but we we're hoping that one day they will probably call us. But unfortunately 2 years since I had my OJT there and after leaving a competitive feedback from staff and head nurse, still they never called anyone from our batch. And that's when I found out that they were actually having routine of accepting OJTs after every batch were through, just like being a volunteer nurse. Plus you don;t get any legal proof that you had your OJT there aside from the fact that you brag about it in your resume. They will not give you any sorts of certification whatsoever. To cut it short it was an awesome experience in terms of learning and developing your hands on skill but that's all you'll ever get from it. Just imagine if they'll no longer have batches of both volunteer nurses and OJT, I guess that's the only time they'll take the hiring seriously because EAMC is big hospital and it was difficult for their staff to manage an entire ward with a minimum number of staff nurses. All I'm saying is that, let's look on the brighter side of this memorandum. :)

thanks for your thoughts and to all the nurses who share your comments! lightbulb.pngGood vibes!

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