PNA plea "INCREASE NEW NURSE HIRING"

Published

"The PNA has appealed to the Department of Health (DOH) and private hospitals to increase their hiring of new nurses to help new nursing graduates find work."

"Even with an "oversupply" of nurses, the current nurse-to-patient ratio in the country is 1 nurse to 160 to 180 patients."

abs-cbnNEWS.com | 11/29/2008 8:53 PM

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More than 89,000 nursing graduates across the country took the Nursing Licensure Examination on Saturday, a record number according to the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC). The PRC Board of Nursing said the number of examinees is the largest in the country's history.

Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) president Dr. Leah Paquiz said they are expecting a 43 percent passing rate for this weekend's examination, or an estimated 38,000 new nurses by January 2009.

The only problem, Paquiz said, is how these new nurses would find work in the country.

She said the Philippines has an "oversupply" of nurses, while its Asian neighbors such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia and Japan, as well as European and North American countries, are in short supply of nurses.

Paquiz said the Philippines could help these countries in addressing their nursing problems, but for Filipino nurses to go abroad they should first have two years' experience in the country - which now poses a problem, since both public and private hospitals do not hire new nurses regularly.

Even with an "oversupply" of nurses, the current nurse-to-patient ratio in the country is 1 nurse to 160 to 180 patients.

The PNA said this is an alarming situation because this could affect the performance of Filipino nurses.

The PNA has appealed to the Department of Health (DOH) and private hospitals to increase their hiring of new nurses to help new nursing graduates find work. -- With a report from Apples Jalandoni, ABS-CBN News

as of 11/29/2008 8:53 PM

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Thank you for posting that. It there any way the 400,000 unemployed nurses, nursing students and families could contact their local rep and ask that more taxes could go into the Philippine Health care system. Can you write letters to your editors?

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Just out of personal curiosity how is 1 nurse to 160-180 patients even

remotely possible? Is this a clerical error or am I missing something

about nursing in the Phillippines?

Thanks for educating me.

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even there would be a number of recruiters, it isnt enough to lessen the number of unemplyed nurses in Philippines.. too sad..:no:

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Just out of personal curiosity how is 1 nurse to 160-180 patients even

remotely possible? Is this a clerical error or am I missing something

about nursing in the Phillippines?

Thanks for educating me.

It seems insane.. and it is. The article is pointing an example, there are some areas of the country where the hospital is hiring only one RN to care for 160-180 patients and the rest of the care is provided by untrained, unlicensed individuals. Some of them are students, others LPNs or medical-related degree holders but only one RN.

On the best case scenario though the patient to nurse ratio is still about three to four times the number of patients to a nurse as one would find in any industrialized nation such as the USA.

The only exception to this are the hospitals for the rich 5% of the population where there is almost one nurse per patient.

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i hope the hospital would really increase their hiring because some of the hospitals are obliging the nurses to have a 16-hour-duty because there's no one to endorse with. despite of the thousands of nurses who have no jobs how come some still work on this basis.. such irony..

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I find it ironic that they are still mentioning the US as well as the EU. The US has a retrogression that has been ongoing for more than two years and the entire EU also has a hiring freeze in place. There is not one nurse from the Philippines that is being sponsored by a hospital for a visa. Even if a hospital tried, the government is not issuing the visa unless the nurse has significant work experience in an area where there is a shortage. And one would also be 3rd or 4th down the list as jobs will go to their citizens first, and then to passport holders from other EU countries, and then and only if there is a need for their specialty.

It is not a point of hospitals hiring so that the nurse can go overseas to work, when a nurse has 30 patients on the wards in Manila to care for and the family members are usually required to remain there to provide basic care, then there needs to be changes with the system there first, not focusing on how you are going to send someone to another country to work.

Unfortunately, most of the contracts being signed are for the four year BSN RN to go to work as an unlicensed caregiver. That is just shameful in my opinion.

There could easily be many more nurses hired and the conditions improved, but do not expect that to happen. There is no way that things can be done safely when one has that many patients in an acute care facility that they are the only nurse for. Just impossible. They will never get to the standards in other countries with this type of staffing. And they most certainly cannot state that there is a shortage there.

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it's amazing how a thread about increasing the hiring of nurses in the Philippines can be diverted to an issue about retrogression and "hiring freeze" abroad.:D

it's just not a matter of urging hospital to take in more nurses but to also make the public aware about what's happening in our hospitals.i won't talk about the government hospitals because thats a different thing. but private hospitals....they should really be hiring more nurses for their paying patients. i wouldn't be happy to pay exorbitant amount of hospital bills to a hospital that leaves me in the care of a nurse that is already stressed and tired because she has to look after a large amount of patients. its just not right and safe......

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Specializes in medical, surgical, OB, pedia.

ONE WORD TO DESCRIBE THIS ISSUE: IRONIC.

so many jobless and available RN's, but still not enough nurses in the hospitals.

i find that nurse to patient ratio depressing. how can the government assure it's citizens safe and quality nursing care if that is the N:P ratio?

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ONE WORD TO DESCRIBE THIS ISSUE: IRONIC.

so many jobless and available RN's, but still not enough nurses in the hospitals.

i find that nurse to patient ratio depressing. how can the government assure it's citizens safe and quality nursing care if that is the N:P ratio?

Bottom line: In the Philippines if the government officials cannot personally profit from something then it doesn't get done. To hell with the public safety, they want to know their cut.

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Specializes in medical, surgical, OB, pedia.

well at least I salute PNA for raising this issue. and i do hope the hospitals comply.

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Specializes in Hemodialysis, Operating Room Nurse, PACU.
Just out of personal curiosity how is 1 nurse to 160-180 patients even

remotely possible? Is this a clerical error or am I missing something

about nursing in the Phillippines?

Thanks for educating me.

Well this is probably just a ballpark assessment.. In reality, it is around 2 nurses is to 60 patients. Either way, it is STILL insane! :banghead: I work in a government medical center.. We currently have a average census of 40-47 patients per day with only two nurses on duty, plus a nursing assistant.

I'd like to inform you all that everyday's a living HELL. (or I can't imagine hell being much worse..) :chuckle

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