nursing frustrations in working in the philippines

nefarious · Jul 24, 2008

WHAT?!?! she was still called by her supervisor despite knowing that she worked a 24hour shift previously?! that's awful!to just ignore that fact is a very wrong thing to do. if i were your friend, i would go to the hospital and ask to talk to somebody from the admin about that because they would be the ones who will be blamed if the nurse would commit errors during her duty. i myself sometimes volunteer for an OT but i know i can only survive up to 12 hours, so i would always tell my supervisor about that so she could find a reliever before my shift is up.

Daly City RN · Jul 25, 2008

Irregardless that the Philippines is a third world country, and irregardless that there are hundreds of thousands of unemployed nurses willing to take any hospital job, but that nursing supervisor is way out of line.

She must be an idiot not to realize that nurses are taking care of human lives.

awfullysweetgal · Jul 29, 2008

Well that's the way it is..they hire you, use you and abuse you. The reason mainly is they can fire and re-hire if you did not comply with their "over to the top" rules. Its very ironic, here in our country they couldnt hire enough nurses for the reason of having low cost budgets so most of the hospitals here are not adequate with nurses. One major hospital comprises the ratio 1 nurse per 60 patients. And they have the nerve to extend your shift that's usually 8 hrs to 12 hrs..or worse 24 hours. So basically if you have made your morning rounds at 7am like taking vital signs, giving meds from patient number 1 and when you get to patient number 60,it'll be time for the 2pm meds. You're lucky enough if you had your break.

Also most of the hospitals here have these seniority basis rule. The newer nurses have to endure longer shifts, 4 day break in one month and dont have the luxury to complain because most likely they are in the verge of being fired...So if you want the experience to gain well brace yourself..hehehe...

There's an ad in the last sunday newspaper that's looking for nurses...i think two hospitals..they are accepting fresh R.N graduates

Daly City RN · Jul 30, 2008

Well that's the way it is..they hire you, use you and abuse you. The reason mainly is they can fire and re-hire if you did not comply with their "over to the top" rules. Its very ironic, here in our country they couldnt hire enough nurses for the reason of having low cost budgets so most of the hospitals here are not adequate with nurses. One major hospital comprises the ratio 1 nurse per 60 patients. And they have the nerve to extend your shift that's usually 8 hrs to 12 hrs..or worse 24 hours. So basically if you have made your morning rounds at 7am like taking vital signs, giving meds from patient number 1 and when you get to patient number 60,it'll be time for the 2pm meds. You're lucky enough if you had your break.
Also most of the hospitals here have these seniority basis rule. The newer nurses have to endure longer shifts, 4 day break in one month and dont have the luxury to complain because most likely they are in the verge of being fired...So if you want the experience to gain well brace yourself..hehehe...
There's an ad in the last sunday newspaper that's looking for nurses...i think two hospitals..they are accepting fresh R.N graduates

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This should serve as a warning to those returning overseas Filipinos, especially we Filipino-Americans who expect American standard of health care whenever and wherever we are hospitalized. Admittedly we have problems here in America but compared to the current conditions that are happening in the Philippine heath care delivery system, things here in the U.S. are so much safer.

I understand that the Philippines still has a long way to go to reach the health care standard of industrialized countries if ever it is going to reach that, but if the horror stories that are being written here are true, then the hospital officials in the Philippines and the Philippine government should bear the burden of blame for allowing such conditions to happen.

I am a Fellow of a group of professional registered nurses here in the San Francisco Bay Area, California whose mission is to make nursing care several notches safer. There are now about eight local hospitals that are participating in this program and we are being funded by a private foundation with multi-million dollar grant every year that is divided among these public and private hospitals located here in the SF Bay Area. We do meet several times a year to present reports and to exchange ideas among the member hospitals on how to further make nursing practice safer. I feel honored and privileged to be an active member of this important group of American registered nurses, and I'm proud to say that about 20% of the members are Filipino-American registered nurses. (The meetings are held in various luxury hotels and these are nice perks given to us for being members of this important group of registered nurses.)

I wish that there would someday be a similar group of nursing leaders in the Philippines that would spearhead a similar movement to make nursing practice in the Philippines so much safer than current standards. Nursing in the Philippines could even become an international model and inspiration by other nurses from other countries. And why not? The Philippines is the number one exporter of nurses in the world. And couldn't there be a group of top notched nursing leaders in the Philippines that could change standard of nursing practice in the Philippines to a better and much safer one? This group could also be funded by big local and multi-national companies operating in the Philippines through private donations.

And maybe...maybe someday, if there will be similar groups of nurses (and possibly doctors as well), whose goal is to make the health care delivery system in the Philippines much safer than current standards, then hopefully the idiots who are now running those unsafe hospitals in the Philippines will be booted out and hopefully never to be heard from again.

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awfullysweetgal · Jul 31, 2008

Well I have seen lots of health workers here practically begging for those similar benefits that you guys have there,but it always fall on deaf ears. Some of our kabayans have that same desire that you and I have, to make the difference and to share their experience,they had battled and fought but still lost it. The horror stories that I had posted earlier comes from working for indigent or charity patients.

We are one of the best doctors and nurses in the world, we still provide quality care in terms of the private patient. When I was a student, I was deeply moved seeing the ward staff in a charity govt hospital shell out their own money weekly to help patients by providing them their medicines. The problem here especially in caring for those indigent patients is the lack of support and the budget that we get from the govt. So many presidents have gone by, and as long as there is graft and corruption, the healthcare system will remain unchanged.

Daly City RN · Jul 31, 2008

We are one of the best doctors and nurses in the world, we still provide quality care in terms of the private patient. When I was a student, I was deeply moved seeing the ward staff in a charity govt hospital shell out their own money weekly to help patients by providing them their medicines. The problem here especially in caring for those indigent patients is the lack of support and the budget that we get from the govt. So many presidents have gone by, and as long as there is graft and corruption, the healthcare system will remain unchanged.

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Some things never change. When I was a student nurse way back in the 1970's I was assigned at the Children's Hospital in Quezon City. I remember a frail baby that needed intra-muscular antibiotic shots a few times a day. We had to give the shots in the baby's tiny bony thighs and the only needles that were available were 20g. size. That size was way too big for an infant, let alone an undernourished baby. I was crushed when I saw the baby's reaction to the large needle. I gave that baby the antibiotic shot it needed to survive, but at the same time the baby felt the equivalent to an adult being stabbed in the thigh with an ICE PICK! (The place brought back a lot of memories when I happened to drive by it the last time I vacationed in the Philippines in Dec. 2006)

Some things never change. The public hospitals during my student days were badly funded while the politicians enriched themselves. Now it's 2008 the public hospitals in the Philippines still lack adequate funds to provide effective health care to the needy Filipinos while the politicians continue to enrich themselves.

Same old, same old.

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awfullysweetgal · Aug 2, 2008

Hehehe that is sooo true Daly! Even the govt hospital director themselves are buzy in beefing up their own pockets. A few years back, there's this hospital director somewhere in quezon city, he purchased 10 ambulance vans using their budget. This stirred quite a commotion in that hospital and why did he purchase that many. Later they learned that their govt director had this great car deal where he had bought the vans: if he purchased 10 vans, he will be given a free car which of course for his own private use. Clever huh?

Lorodz · Aug 2, 2008

Hi! Just frustrated to some of the horror stories that i've been hearing from my fellow nurses. What the other posts here are saying is true, it's hard to look for a nursing career here in our homeland,where everywhere you look, there's almost always too many nursing students and nursing applicants that I ran into...in malls,buses,jeepneys,everywhere!
Sad to say,there are some hospitals whe are taking advantage of this nursing overpopulation situation. If you don't comply with their "rules"- they'll just drop you off like a hot potato. For instance my friend was estatic to have found a job in a hospital...and I was surprised that she resigned less than a month. Reason was she was on duty Dec 24 then off the following day. Her duty sched was 7am-7pm dec 24..and she was asked to go on straight duty coz the incoming staff did not show up. And her supervisor even told her "you should do the straight duty because you're new..you need the experience"...
So...she went on with her 24 hrs duty..mentally and physically tired from work..but she thought "anyway what's important is tomorrow's my off" After going home and slept,she was jolted out from her sleep..there were 10 missed calls on her cellphone and her sister woke her and told her she needs to call the hospital ASAP. With heart racing she frantically called the hospital,and know what? The nursing supervisor told her (she was even angry) to report on duty that day! So my friend said "Mam i just came home from my 24hrs duty last night from doing the straight duty" And she was told that "I know you did the 24 hrs duty yesterday,that doesnt count anything,you took up nursing, you have to endure and make sacrifices,why did you took up nursing anyway? If you dont report now, there are hundreds of applicants out there to fill in your spot"
I could go on and on...but many of us here just make the ultimate sacrifice to just swallow the pill and to have the nursing experience.
So what's you story?

work that requires you to work for straight 24 hours and use coercion for you to comply? hmmm i think thats lawsuit already! you should complain to the proper authorities.

traumadrama08 · Aug 28, 2008

hi! just frustrated to some of the horror stories that i've been hearing from my fellow nurses. what the other posts here are saying is true, it's hard to look for a nursing career here in our homeland,where everywhere you look, there's almost always too many nursing students and nursing applicants that i ran into...in malls,buses,jeepneys,everywhere!
sad to say,there are some hospitals whe are taking advantage of this nursing overpopulation situation. if you don't comply with their "rules"- they'll just drop you off like a hot potato. for instance my friend was estatic to have found a job in a hospital...and i was surprised that she resigned less than a month. reason was she was on duty dec 24 then off the following day. her duty sched was 7am-7pm dec 24..and she was asked to go on straight duty coz the incoming staff did not show up. and her supervisor even told her "you should do the straight duty because you're new..you need the experience"...
so...she went on with her 24 hrs duty..mentally and physically tired from work..but she thought "anyway what's important is tomorrow's my off" after going home and slept,she was jolted out from her sleep..there were 10 missed calls on her cellphone and her sister woke her and told her she needs to call the hospital asap. with heart racing she frantically called the hospital,and know what? the nursing supervisor told her (she was even angry) to report on duty that day! so my friend said "mam i just came home from my 24hrs duty last night from doing the straight duty" and she was told that "i know you did the 24 hrs duty yesterday,that doesnt count anything,you took up nursing, you have to endure and make sacrifices,why did you took up nursing anyway? if you dont report now, there are hundreds of applicants out there to fill in your spot"
i could go on and on...but many of us here just make the ultimate sacrifice to just swallow the pill and to have the nursing experience.
so what's you story?

and we think we have it bad here in the states when we have to go room to room looking for a blood pressure machine. there are soooo many positions just not enough nurses while it seems that in the phillipines it is just the opposite. maybe the u.s. and the phillipines need to sit down and try to find out why one is suceeding in producing the mass number of nurses while the other can't seem to get them through fast enough. i am begining to believe that a lot of the problem is stemming from not having the nurses who can teach the much needed new students therefore we have a severe limitation on the number of nurses that we can put through each year and it looks like it is only going to get worse. i love my job but some days it is very overwhelming.

Daly City RN · Aug 28, 2008

and we think we have it bad here in the states when we have to go room to room looking for a blood pressure machine. there are soooo many positions just not enough nurses while it seems that in the phillipines it is just the opposite. maybe the u.s. and the phillipines need to sit down and try to find out why one is suceeding in producing the mass number of nurses while the other can't seem to get them through fast enough. i am begining to believe that a lot of the problem is stemming from not having the nurses who can teach the much needed new students therefore we have a severe limitation on the number of nurses that we can put through each year and it looks like it is only going to get worse. i love my job but some days it is very overwhelming.

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the philippines has many sub-standard nursing schools educating filipino student nurses who would otherwise never qualify to be admitted in any u.s. nursing school. the u.s. has much stringent standards when it comes to admitting prospective applicants to nursing schools. this doesn't mean that the philippines doesn't have world class nursing schools. there are still many excellent nursing schools in the philippines but the heart of the problem now is that the corrupt and the idiots in the philippine government have allowed many sub-standard nursing schools to open and continually operate in the country.

the ugly result is very obvious and can not be hidden under the rug. the philippines has produced a vast surplus of nurses who can't find jobs in the philippines. sad to say that many of the current nurses had graduated from those sub-standard nursing schools. hundreds of thousands of unemployed nurses in the philippines is a major national embarrassment. rich countries with nursing shortage would probably love to have a little bit of the philippines' problem of oversupply of nurses until they realize that many of these nurses are the products of sub-standard schools of nursing.

the philippines has produced many remarkable and very intelligent citizens, but unfortunately many of them don't work for the philippine government. many idiots with money or connections are the ones running the many branches of the philippine government. this problem has trickled down to the philippine nursing profession.

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pinay2008, LPN, LVN · Aug 28, 2008

The situation here in our country is really, really so frustrating and depressing...our government here seems not to know what to prioritize.