State of Nursing Education in the Philippines

Aquarian · Jun 13, 2007

There is definitely no apology that I owe to anyone for what I have posted. I do have years of experience working in the US to back me up. and have seen the decrease in the skills of the nurses coming from PI of late.
There actually is a thread on this very same topic on the Philippine Forum, and I suggest that you look for it and read it. And you will find many from your country backing up what I have said. It is you that does not have the full information.
And to take it one step further: I am very tired of hearing that someone must work in the US, that they were destined to be a nurse in the US from your country. And yet they complain about how immigration does things here, why this is done and something is not done. But the focus should be on what they offer the US if they would come here, how they could make things better if they came for others.
And a better question yet for you: Knowing what you do know, would you feel comfortable with a new grad from your country caring for a critically ill family member of yours with only three days of orientation in a facility, and they never learned any clinical skills in your country? Or caring for you? I should hope not, but that is what is happening when someone comes here and never had the skill set that they should have had before they gradauted.
What about the people that have cheated to get the required five documented deliveries so that they could turn in their papers so that they could take the NLE, but never delivered one baby? The information was bought and paid for. We are not dumb here and are very aware of what is going on there, as well as the hospitals that it has been happening at.
I have information to back up everything that I have posted. You can't make up things like that.

Hello, can I still butt in? I just want to validate the highlighted part. I personally saw money being exchanged at the rate of 500 pesos per case in one big public hospital where most OB cases come from back in November 2005 in preparation for the December exam. I was shocked that it happened right in front of me in the office of the headnurse while awaiting her signature on my papers.

Don't get me wrong. Not all who rotated in this hospital cheated. I myself had more deliveries than required but that's another story.

SUNNYSKIES · Jun 13, 2007

I actually feel that that the Quality of Nursing Education is declining here in the Philippines because of the increasing number of Nursing schools that wants to make profit out of Nursing Students. Their goal is not to produce quality graduates but to make money out them. There are schools that doesnt control and screen the number of enrollees. In the two schools I've enrolled in, I didnt go through any entrance nor physical examinations. There was a time that we are about 80 students in a small classroom. I even had a classmate who has cleft palate and was still allowed to enroll inspite of her very obvious defect or disability. I think that it is a responsibility of the school to advise students not to take Nursing because of its Physical and Mental demands of the course.

I just graduated recently (April 24, 2007) and I would admit that at this time, after 3years ( second courser) of studying, I am still not prepared to work in a hospital even when I get to pass the Nursing Board Exams. Passing exams NLE, NCLEX or CGFNS is really not a gauge of being a real Nurse. As a student, most of what we did during our RLE's was to do Vital Signs, give medications, or bedside care... and I feel that the training was not adequate. Even with our lectures, some professors dont teach properly. Even the cases submitted to the PRC can be bought.

To improve the quality of Nurses here, what CHED, PRC and our government has to do is to Monitor schools carefully, stop issueing permits to small Nursing schools, abolish Nursing review centers and increase the number of duty hours. However, there are still a few schools that produce good graduates like UST, UP and some schools outside Manila. They strictly follow rules and they monitor their students well. The only problem with them is that they are not open to returning students or second coursers. So, we had to settle for less.

Still, we have the chance of being as good as them if we study more and gain more experience working here first as nurses before we go abroad. Since we cannot do something about the present situation. It is really up to us Graduates and future nurses whether we want to settle for mediocirty or whether we want to bring back the trust and confidence of other countries to Filipino Nurses.

villia · Jun 13, 2007

im so sad..you people are saying that filipino nurses have a little chance to work in US? there were news that there's a big shortage of nurses, which means there wil be more available jobs for nurses. actually i consider this for taking up nursing as a second courser. its hard to study somethign but there's no available job for you like whats happening here in Phils. which has high unemployment rate and i dont want to work in call center for a second career.. i read about retrogression and i just hope that it will be lifted. im aware about the costly fees but im determined to learn and to improve my skills. may be the problem is that skuls here are not upgrading their clinical teaching/ equipments? am i right? just advise us what to consider or we have just to stick to our present career? oh im confused now. im really excited to go back to school and to work abroad and not only in US take note..

blabber, RN · Jun 13, 2007

i am a bit sad about the things that are being said about Filipino nurses but i think i have to agree that what is happening now back home is due to the fact that people see NURSING as their ticket to the US! even MD's are taking up nursing just so they can migrate to the US.

i've been a nurse for only 9 years (going on 10 this year). i studied and trained in the PI. i believe, i am well capable of working in the US, like any other foreign educated and trained nurse, and so i took all the necessary exams and thankfully passed. but it doesn't mean that i am dying to work in the US. if the opportunity comes, thank you. if not, then i have to look for other options.

it is a very well known fact that people back home are taking up nursing for financial reasons. i am working abroad because i want to help my family financially and i don't think it's a bad thing. nurses are in demand not only in the US so, all filipino nurses shouldn't set their minds or their goals to 1 country alone. middle east is also in great need of nurses and most of the patients that i've taken care of here have nothing bad to say about filipino nurses.

the problem now is that people are taking advantage of the boom in the nursing industry. yes, suzanne is right. what does an IT university know about nursing? the review centers that are popping out like mushrooms only to give out leakages?! the PI gov't should do something about it. but realistically, how can the gov't officials do something about it when they themselves think about the financial gain they are getting from the uninformed and naive individuals taking up nursing? :angryfire

i don't want to fuel the fire that this thread has already created. i am thankful that people here like suzanne and lawrence are giving us the right info. we have the right to speak our mind and i believe they are encouraging us to do so but let us all respect each other's opinion.

rkm · Jun 13, 2007

im so sad..you people are saying that filipino nurses have a little chance to work in US? there were news that there's a big shortage of nurses, which means there wil be more available jobs for nurses. actually i consider this for taking up nursing as a second courser. its hard to study somethign but there's no available job for you like whats happening here in Phils. which has high unemployment rate and i dont want to work in call center for a second career.. i read about retrogression and i just hope that it will be lifted. im aware about the costly fees but im determined to learn and to improve my skills. may be the problem is that skuls here are not upgrading their clinical teaching/ equipments? am i right? just advise us what to consider or we have just to stick to our present career? oh im confused now. im really excited to go back to school and to work abroad and not only in US take note..

There are aspects of this i-want-to-migrate-to-the-usa-too-as-a-nurse-just-like-everybody-else thing that Suzanne has been trying to make abundantly clear. No matter how many gazillions of nurses may want to go to the USA to contribute their care to the American people, NOT ALL OF THEM WILL BE ABLE TO DO SO. There are not enough visas and you have to go through THE IMMIGRATION PROCESS. Not all will make it. So don't get your hopes up too high, be realistic. There will be a GLUT OF NURSES in PI in the next few years because it is inevitable that this need will decline as the US is doing its best to train their own nurses. There is nothing special about the PI in terms of nurses, we're just producing too much, dragged forward by visions of dollar signs. There are other countries and other nurses also waiting in line. You HAVE TO WAIT YOUR TURN. Speculating on how and what changes will occur in the US IMMIGRATION SYSTEM and what we think the system SHOULD BE is none of our business, since that is BEYOND OUR CONTROL. They will overhaul THEIR SYSTEM AS THEY SEE FIT. What we need to do is to train ourselves well, meet the requirements (honestly) of the IMMIGRATION PROCESS and WAIT OUR TURN JUST LIKE THE THOUSANDS of nurses who all want to get to the USA. After you do this, THERE IS NO GUARANTEE that you will hit your goal. The demand for nurses in the USA is NOT THAT BIG, and there are greedy individuals in the PI are taking advantage of the PINOY DESPERATION and her greatest dream: TO LEAVE THE PI AND WORK IN AMERICA. The pyramid of applicants clogging the migration pipeline is stupendous right now and many will be left behind.

This almost ridiculous bandwagon effect where almost all students are taking up nursing whether they like it or not benefits only the businessmen. Everybody is scrambling to get a piece of the money from eager parents' pockets by opening substandard schools just to churn out more nurses and rake in huge profits. Who cares where they're going. Many of the new graduates will get stuck here in the PI, and that's a fact that no amount of anxiety will ever solve.

"Optimism does not alter the laws of physics" (or of US immigration) - T'Pol of Star Trek Enterprise:nono:

Nurse!Nurse!Hello? · Jun 14, 2007

You need to keep in mind that the US is also focusing on educating more nurses so that we will be less dependent on importing foreign nurses.

The American Nurses Association "opposes a proposed measure before the U.S. Senate that would remove the limit on the number of nurses who can immigrate to the U.S. The ANA's position is that a flood of nurses from poor countries such as the Philippines, India and China would damage the health care systems in those countries as well as domestic work force issues. The ANA's recommendation has long been for Congress to appropriate funding to support domestic education programs such as increasing salaries and improving benefits and conditions for nurse educators."

There are very few people in nursing who consider continuing to import foreign nurses to be a long-term solution for problems in our healthcare system. So, my advice to Filipino nurses is this: broaden your view of the world to include more than just the US. There are many other countries with available jobs, and an increasing need for nurses in the PI.

Don't try and "close this thread" so that the truth about the current state of nursing education in the PI is swept under the rug and hidden. If you want to be a nurse, DEMAND a quality education so you will be prepared for a real-world job. You owe it to yourself, and to your future patients.

If your reason for attending nursing school is only financial, it will show in your work and in your attitude toward your patients. That is something you will not be able to hide!

13th stranger · Jun 14, 2007

i honestly have no desire to work in a hospital here because u all know what the working conditions are like. truth be told, some houshelp, security guards, etc. are paid better, eat better, treated better.. not that i have anything against them, but it does feel a might frustrating that we paid a lot to get to this stage.

i went through nursing school where i really studied and honestly gained my passing marks. like most people in our batch (a batch ahead of the sudden boom in students), i did all the required cases, and thankfully there were enough at that time for us. i toiled for and passed the exams, honestly thinking and believing (still) that my sacrifices will pay off. we are not rich, but it was my innocent desire to want to work abroad that let me go on.

and now?

suddenly im part of the desperate group just hungry for the US dollars

suddenly im part of the opportunistic

suddenly im part of the group who lack skills but have the nerve to want to work abroad

i am not a bad person.

but this has done nothing but make feel bad about wanting to work in the US without wanting to work in the PI.

gemini_star, BSN, RN · Jun 14, 2007

There is nothing wrong with working in the PI if you really love your job without counting money in return. Filipino nurses who are now in the U.S. had their training for couple of years in PI. If they have made it, why not work here for some time? I don't see any problem with that and it's not that bad. You can reason out countless of points why not but it is just the way it is. The problem is some of the nursing students want quick results to their plans without working their butts off. If you are an employer from the US, would you hire someone with no experience not really knowing their present background education is like? I don't think so.

I agree that this thread must not be closed. There are issues that must learn by many Filipinos who desperately need answers to their dreams. The truth hurt sometimes and it may take a while to succumb all of these. I can tell many negative things in studying nursing at this present day or generation. Mostly, I would not recommend them in studying nursing. If you only want to work abroad especially US, choose a job or course that you really like. I don't regret any of my plans in studying nursing because I love what I am doing even though my school sucks big time.

rkm · Jun 14, 2007

i honestly have no desire to work in a hospital here because u all know what the working conditions are like. truth be told, some houshelp, security guards, etc. are paid better, eat better, treated better.. not that i have anything against them, but it does feel a might frustrating that we paid a lot to get to this stage.
i went through nursing school where i really studied and honestly gained my passing marks. like most people in our batch (a batch ahead of the sudden boom in students), i did all the required cases, and thankfully there were enough at that time for us. i toiled for and passed the exams, honestly thinking and believing (still) that my sacrifices will pay off. we are not rich, but it was my innocent desire to want to work abroad that let me go on.
and now?
suddenly im part of the desperate group just hungry for the US dollars
suddenly im part of the opportunistic
suddenly im part of the group who lack skills but have the nerve to want to work abroad
i am not a bad person.
but this has done nothing but make feel bad about wanting to work in the US without wanting to work in the PI.

Whether we like it or not, life is unfair. It always was, it always is and it always will be. How we survive depends on how we see things. No matter how badly we want something, we may have to accept the fact that we can't always have our wish. Same with this rush to leave the PI. Let's face it, most of those taking up nursing have foreign shores in mind when they study hard to pass their exams. We are turning out nurses, that as unpleasant as it might sound, are for export purposes. Schools that have no business being into nursing are being approved to operate because of the MONEY involved. Corrupts absolutely. Life here in the PI is indeed difficult, and you can't blame parents who only have the best of intentions to send their offspring to other lands and hopefully better opportunities rather than to have them stagnate in a country where they are overworked and underpaid. Case in point: government hospitals here have ratios of 1 nurse:40 patients, or even 1 nurse:all patients in the ward. Parents of new graduates spend huge sums for their children to pass all the required exams, instead of having them gain the the experience in the local hospital, since the logic being their children are bound for other countries anyway, so what's the use of practicing their skills here. Some volunteer to work in hospitals to gain experience that they can present to the recruiting agencies, even paying just to volunteer in private hospitals. These same hospitals are gleefully taking advantage of the need of the new nurses for the CERTIFICATES that they think would help them land a job in other countries. When you check our universities, you would see a virtual flood, a deluge of students in white, by the thousands, all into nursing. And most of them want to leave the shores of PI. With such quantity, quality doubtless, suffers. Massive new nursing buildings are being built to accomodate these students, but where will they go when the foreign demand slackens and eventually slows to a trickle? Right now, the immigration system seems to be one continuous retrogression landscape brightened by a few colorful months of CURRENT STATUS, then all goes dark again, as more and more PI nurses clog the immigration pipeline. There's nothing we can do about this. More waiting, and now many of those who wait will no longer reach their goal. Other countries must be considered rather than focusing on one alone.

"What goes up must come down".... :nono:

Mcgyver · Jun 14, 2007

I have made a recent study, regarding reasons of of certain profession taking up Nursing as second course here in the Philippines, and the result was, political and economic instability as the the no 1 reason for the transition..it is sad that some people are forced to do something or give up something for the sake of necessity...but then again,regardless of the chosen profession, what really matter is we find enjoyment and fullfillment in the performance of our work to be considered successful in our respective fields.

As much as we wanted to change the state of Nursing Education in the Philippines,we can not do it instantly.. I guess all we have to do is contribute in our on little way, by always giving our 100%best as nurseswhich is to give Unconditional CARE to our clients.

As you read some of the threads here, you can see topics about PI nurses, regarding the exodus of nurses,cheating, the deteriorating quality of services,etc. even some letting us feel we are not welcome in their place,..they can think whatever they want, but let us not allow the words of one person or some group to pull as down, we are better that that;)

villia · Jun 14, 2007

To be a nurse, I think there's nothing wrong in considering money and the money thing is always considered in any work. Of course, i chose this course for my kids future too and i know im going to love this profession. is that bad to be a reason? most especially, if you have a big family to support. im tired of working here in the phils. just take note of per capita income here and there's more work than pay.That's why instead of taking up MA, id rather study nursing even if I heard this retrogression issue, new immigration rules, etc. I believe we have our own time.

I just researched a right nursing school for me which has a long foundation of teaching nursing. Im still young and not in a hurry to finish this course. I will take BSN for three years because almost all my first year subjects were credited.. I think as long as a student is serious and determined to be a competent nurse, he can go anywhere.. i just hope local regulators here will improve its regulation to better monitor the qualified schools and should set quotas for nursing students.

RNHawaii34 · Jun 14, 2007

i just hope that parents who are persuading their daughters/sons to take up nursing will be enlightened on the status of nurses here in pi. its a sad thing that some of them see nursing as a dollar sign.

i agree. most parents don't see how hard it is to get out of the country. it's like a dead end street right after graduation knowing that you as a new grad have a lot of hurdles to go through before they can get out of the country to earn that dollars, pounds or deutschmark, yen, or whatever, but...i definitely would not blame them if they want their children to have a better education, better future, right? i am sure parents know what they are doing, since they lived the hardlife already...so, i would definitely give them a credit for putting you in school, than letting you work in the farm, or in public market selling vegetables, or be a fish vendor. although it's hard to get out of the country and work as a nur$e? why not try to work from the bottom? make the best of it, because you have the degree. and pls. give your parents a good hug and thank you.