Oversupply of nurses plagues RP

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Specializes in Med/Surg/Med-Tele/SDU/ED.

oversupply of nurses plagues rp

[color=dimgray]first posted 20:47:00 04/03/2008

the philippines has oversupply of nurses this year . . . produce thousands of nurses and some diploma mill schools churn out countless of practical nurses.

university of the philippines college of nursing dean dr. josefina tuazon and philippine nurses association national president leah paquiz disclosed that the oversupply of nurses is fast becoming the country's problem even as deployment abroad may be the "first choice" for these graduates.

tuazon explained that due to the numerous nursing graduates this year at 67, 728, hospitals have to get volunteer nurses -- a lot better because they are not paid -- to accommodate the fresh graduates.

interesting choice of words...a plague of nurses.

high number of graduates of practical nursing . . . aggravates the unemployment problem, tuazon stressed.

"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 graduate nurses."

schools offering practical nursing have mushroomed in the country overnight as they promise overseas employment that may await the graduates of this two-year non-degree course. the promise of work abroad . . . is not true as foreign employers prefer the four-year college-degree nurses who passed the licensure board exams.

the farthest thing that these practical nurses can reach is become nurse assistants.

and there's no shortage of cnas.

the pna president also disclosed that united states, home to almost 250,000 filipino nurses in the past years, stopped issuing work visas this year because the quota requirement for migrant workers has already been reached. there were 21,000 filipino nurses seeking employment in the us in 2007.

the philippine overseas employment administration deployed a total of 13, 525 licensed nurses around the world in 2006. of this number, 12, 263 are females and 1, 261 are males.

saudi arabia employed some 5,600 filipino nurses, the highest so far of all middle east countries in 2006.

as my friend will describe this: "cha-ching!"

no wonder the poea and owwa had been nagging people about paying their "dues."

$25 x 13,525 is $338,125--and this is only for the nurses deployed in 2006.

that's php 14,201,250.

where does this money go???

japan has 1.1 million filipino nurses and licensed caregivers in 2005

huh???

i thought a lot of nurses were against starting deployment of filipino nurses to japan, as they were getting a "raw deal?"

1.1 million is a lot!

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japan has 1.1 million filipino nurses and licensed caregivers in 2005.

huh???

i thought a lot of nurses were against starting deployment of filipino nurses to japan, as they were getting a "raw deal?"

1.1 million is a lot!

where in the world did she get those figures? i thought jpepa isn't through yet?

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where in the world did she get those figures? i thought jpepa isn't through yet?

I always take anything said from any Gov't official esp. from POEA, OWWA, DOLE with a grain of salt. Most often times they do not know what they are saying.

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i dunno who's to blame having the problem of oversupply of nurses. Sheesh! They should have visualized it before since now, its really a big problem. Opening such schools which, for the sake of money and everything, results to poor quality of nursing plus the Oversupply of nurses.

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Any nurses that go to Japan are not working in the role of the RN there, that is a very definite thing.

Japan will not even grant a license to a Japanese national that trains in the US or another country and wishes to return home to work. They are unable to obtain a license as an RN there, so why in the world are they going to issue a license to someone that may not even speak Japanese or know the culture there?

They are sending nurses there to work as maids and nothing more, forget what they are calling caregivers, they are acting as glorified maids and are treated as such.

Sorry, but the politicians in your country cannot get anything straight or even correct. I check the news out of there frequently to see what the next dumb remark is going to be. And to top it off, the practical nursing curriculum there is one year, not two years. And there is no country in the world that will accept the LPN for immigration purposes, but guess that the politicans are not aware of that little issue as they keep approving these shoddy programs that can do no more than take one's money.

What a shame, as well as scam. But I do think that these politicians need to have treatment by nurses from some of these programs or subject their family members to them when they know that the nurses coming from some of these programs do not meet standards for anything.

As they say, what goes around, comes around.

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Specializes in Neuro-Surgery, Med-Surg, Home Health.
I always take anything said from any Gov't official esp. from POEA, OWWA, DOLE with a grain of salt. Most often times they do not know what they are saying.

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Well, Lawrence, it is entirely possible that these Philippine government officials do not know what they are saying is that because they are not qualified for the job they are holding.

It is whom you know, not what you know that puts many (but not all) government officials in 'choice' government jobs.

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Well, Lawrence, it is entirely possible that these Philippine government officials do not know what they are saying is that because they are not qualified for the job they are holding.

It is whom you know, not what you know that puts many (but not all) government officials in 'choice' government jobs.

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Yes, that's exactly what's happening. :D

The former DOLE Sec. was just recently placed on the Supreme Court. I guess, it has something to do with the Neri case w/c the Supreme Court just voted on very recently. His appointment as one of the Chief Justices was just in time for the vote.

And Speaking of Neri. He is currently the Sec. of CHED. I wonder what he knows about Education :D

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Specializes in Neuro-Surgery, Med-Surg, Home Health.
Any nurses that go to Japan are not working in the role of the RN there, that is a very definite thing.

Japan will not even grant a license to a Japanese national that trains in the US or another country and wishes to return home to work. They are unable to obtain a license as an RN there, so why in the world are they going to issue a license to someone that may not even speak Japanese or know the culture there?

They are sending nurses there to work as maids and nothing more, forget what they are calling caregivers, they are acting as glorified maids and are treated as such.

Sorry, but the politicians in your country cannot get anything straight or even correct. I check the news out of there frequently to see what the next dumb remark is going to be. And to top it off, the practical nursing curriculum there is one year, not two years. And there is no country in the world that will accept the LPN for immigration purposes, but guess that the politicans are not aware of that little issue as they keep approving these shoddy programs that can do no more than take one's money.

What a shame, as well as scam. But I do think that these politicians need to have treatment by nurses from some of these programs or subject their family members to them when they know that the nurses coming from some of these programs do not meet standards for anything.

As they say, what goes around, comes around.

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Funny, just a few years ago my fellow Filipino RN's here in San Francisco, Calif. were amazed to learn that there was a sudden shortage of "trained" nurses in the Philippines because countries in Western Europe, the Middle East and North America recruited a great number of qualified and trained Filipino nurses. Well, as a result nursing got even more popular among Filipinos!

Due to the proliferation of many new schools of nursing, many of which with questionable quality of teaching but have the blessings of corrupt or unqualified Philippine government officials, there are now reportedly 600,000 to 700,000 Filipinos currently enrolled in Philippine nursing schools!

Even with persistent nursing shortage, recruiting countries can now afford to be choosy about whom they wish to hire. Those who are enrolled in nursing schools with low quality of teaching have a very low chance of getting hired abroad especially here in the U.S.A. let alone passing the NCLEX. I have worked with many Filipinos here in the U.S. who studied nursing in the Philippines but are unable pass the NCLEX for the nth. time, and therefore they have been working as nursing assistants for so many years.

Any bright student nurse who dreams of working as an RN abroad to provide care to his/her patients and at the same time get the professional respect and recognition and high salary that a nurse deserves, would not want to work as a nursing assistant just because he/she could not pass the licensing exam of the host country, because this bright nurse was educated in a sud-standard nursing school in the Philippines.

That is an immoral waste of human resource and the Philippine government and its educational system carry most of the blame.

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Specializes in Med/Surg/Med-Tele/SDU/ED.
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. . . there are now reportedly 600,000 to 700,000 filipinos currently enrolled in philippine nursing schools!

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the current figure being quoted is 950,000.

that's almost 1 million nursing students with nowhere to go to.

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20080331-127501/gordon-wants-nursing-schools-to-form-own-review-centers

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Specializes in Neuro-Surgery, Med-Surg, Home Health.
the current figure being quoted is 950,000.

that's almost 1 million nursing students with nowhere to go to.

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20080331-127501/gordon-wants-nursing-schools-to-form-own-review-centers

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950,000 students are currently enrolled in nursing schools in the philippines?

holy cow!!!

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Specializes in Cardiovascular OR / Cardiac Cath Lab.

CHECK THIS OUT (from Sun.Star Cebu website, article dated March 27, 2008):

"FILIPINO health workers will soon have a chance to work in Japan and earn as much as what those working in hospitals in the United States do.

The Japanese-Filipino Caregiver Project, which is a first of its kind here in the country, will pave the way for Filipino nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists and caregivers to work in Japan.

...In its pilot program, CDU will offer a crash course on Japanese care-giving based on a curriculum outlined by the Japanese group.

However, until the Jpepa is signed, the program will first focus on Japinos or those of Filipino and Japanese descent.

...The Japino applicants, aged 16 to 40 years old, were also interviewed so their Japanese lineage could be traced.

Those who passed the screening and background check were granted Japanese visas, making them legal residents of Japan.

Out of over 100 applicants, only 10 were selected to join the initial course, which will run for two to three months, but there will be another batch coming in."

http://www2.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/03/27/bus/japan.opens.new.door.for.health.workers.html

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Sorry, but they are still not going to be working in hospitals in the role of the RN.

If Japan will not even permit a US-trained Japanese national to be able to get a license to work back home, how in the world are they going to grant the RN license to someone from your country? Just not going to happen.

The nurses going over there are going to work as care-givers and nothing more than glorified maids. Period.

We are seeing this happen all over with the wonderful contracts that people representing your government are signing. But they are in fact doing nothing more than sending four year trained RNs to work as maids. You can call it what ever you want, but they are not going to ever be able to get the actual RN license in Japan.

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