Charles Teves
The Department of Health (DOH) has announced that nursing graduates who did not pass the licensure exam but received scores ranging from 70 to 74 percent will have the opportunity to work in government hospitals.
“I will tap them, around 50 percent of those who took the board exam but did not pass – specifically those who achieved a 70-74 percent rating,” Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said in an interview on June 19.
Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma has endorsed a proposal that permits individuals who did not pass the board exam to be employed in state hospitals.
These non-board passers will work under supervision and temporary licenses.
They will have a duration of four years to successfully pass the Philippine Nurse Licensure Examination.
Once they pass the exam, they will be required to sign a four-year return service agreement and serve in government hospitals before they can pursue employment opportunities abroad.
“The plan to hire unlicensed nursing graduates is because under the Universal Health Care, the core of any health system are nurses, that is why they are being pirated by other countries… They have the capability to build more hospitals so they would then be needing the services of more nurses,” he said.
According to Herbosa, scholarships for board review classes have been provided by the private sector to unlicensed nursing graduates.
Not a lot of netizens agree with the measure because it would make the board exam useless.
Di ko talaga maintindihan ang proposal na ‘to. To repeat ang paulit-ulit na sinasabi ng ating nurses, hindi kulang ang bilang ng registered nurses sa Pinas. Ang kulang ay ang sahod at benepisyo nila, kaya sila nag-a-abroad, nasa call center or nasa ibang trabaho. Solve that. https://t.co/1bSvoLNSAX
— Teddy Casiño (@teddycasino) June 19, 2023
Instead of solving the problem, they are now admitting to lowering the standards for healthcare for the Filipinos. What a joke. https://t.co/OvkSS5FCkJ
— tetsuya makino (@TetsMakino) June 20, 2023
https://twitter.com/basedhutao/status/1671102268261662721?s=20
Hmmm diba may more than 100,000 licensed nurses na classified by the DOH under “unspecified practice” meaning either unemployed or not working as nurses. Why not think of a solution as to why these nurses are not pursuing a career in nursing? https://t.co/CFdmSnT9Ai
— KD (@kuya_daddy) June 20, 2023
Here we go by not addressing root cause of the problem 🤡 What a joke @DOHPhil https://t.co/Qk0iyP15gP
— AG Molina 🇵🇸 (@agmolina) June 20, 2023
THIS SITUATION is so fucked up in so many angles. This action of the newly appointed DOH head is very telling how bad our economy, education, and health systems are without saying it. It's painfully embarassing, pitiful, and insulting to everyone. No expletive word for it! 🤨😠🔥 https://t.co/IDRpBDuKBT
— Rodolfo Medrano (@ruminarist) June 20, 2023
this screams desperation lmao
there are actually plenty of registered nurses who don’t practice their profession because of low salary
if you want to address the shortage of nurses in the country, there’s only one solution and this ain’t it https://t.co/Wzjfbvjynq
— MICHAEL RAY (@horhebaker) June 20, 2023
Pangasinan Representative Maria Rachel Arenas has introduced a bill aiming to send health attachés overseas in order to address the emergence and re-emergence of infectious diseases worldwide.
Under House Bill 8444, these health attachés would be stationed in Philippine embassies and consular offices, where they would coordinate responses to public health threats.
Their responsibilities would include providing scientific and policy guidance on public health practices, reporting on health issues in an international context, and promoting global health security and safety.
The bill emphasizes that global health diplomacy (GHD) is currently lacking in the Philippines’ international engagements, despite being an established concept in the global health field.
The proposed legislation aims to establish a GHD Office with a minimum of 200 health attachés.
