More jobless nurses eyed as rural midwives
Source: http://globalnation.inquirer.net

MANILA, Philippines—Congress should build up the Nurses Assigned in Rural Service (NARS) Project toward mobilizing a larger number of unemployed nurses, this time as village midwives, a lawmaker from Mindanao said.

“It would make a lot of sense to expand the NARS, and possibly tap an additional 10,000 nurses for deployment as midwives in municipalities with the highest maternal and infant mortality rates,” Cotabato Representative Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza said in a statement sent to media outfits.

“This way, we will save thousands of mothers and infants who risk death every year due to pregnancy and birth-related complications,” Taliño-Mendoza said.

She said lack of access to skilled delivery attendants has been one of the factors contributing to the unacceptably high number of mothers and infants being lost during pregnancy and childbirth.

“In the countryside and even in urban slums, destitute mothers still give birth at home, often without trained attendants, because they cannot afford to go to maternity clinics or hospitals,” she lamented.

Nurses who serve as midwives under the NARS could gain specialized training that would later help them secure more lucrative jobs here and overseas, Taliño-Mendoza said.

“In America, for instance, there is growing demand for certified nurse-midwives. They are considered advanced practitioners there, with specialized education, training, and experience in both nursing and midwifery,” she added.

Taliño-Mendoza is one of the backers of the proposed Reproductive Health, Responsible Parenthood, and Population Development Act.

The bill seeks to raise public awareness of reproductive health, advance responsible parenthood, and improve access to safe and modern family planning methods in order to reduce unwanted pregnancies and lessen the risk of both maternal and infant mortality.

Government health surveys have shown that 162 mothers die out of every 10,000 births, and that 14 percent of all deaths among Filipino women may be attributed to pregnancy or to childbirth-related causes.

Three out of every four maternal deaths happen to very young women 15 to 19 years old, according to government studies.

Meanwhile, the country’s infant mortality is also unusually high at 24 out of every 1,000 live births.

The country has been producing around 100,000 nurses every year, but only some 12,000 of them are able to obtain gainful employment here and abroad.

From July 2008 to July 2009 alone, the Professional Regulation Commission issued licenses to 99,837 new registered nurses.

The government has so far temporarily engaged 10,000 nurses under the NARS. The project allows nurses to serve in depressed municipalities for six months in exchange for a monthly allowance of P8,000.

Fewer Filipino nurses seeking jobs in US
Source: www.philstar.com

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino nurses are now shying away from the United States because of the prevailing financial crisis there.

Fewer Filipino nurses sought employment in the United States in the first half of the year as the country sank into recession, according to the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP).

TUCP secretary-general and former senator Ernesto Herrera said the number of Filipino nurses aspiring to work in the US plunged by 16 percent compared to the first semester of 2008.

“The deepening recession in America has clearly diminished the desire of Filipino nurses to seek employment there,” Herrera pointed out.

He said that a total of 8,272 Filipino nurses took the US National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) for the first time (non-repeaters) from January to June, 1,565 fewer compared to the 9,837 that took the test in the same six-month period in 2008.

A total of 20,746 Filipino nurses took the NCLEX for the first time for the whole year of 2008 and Herrera said the number was lower by 3.5 percent compared to the 21,299 Filipino nurses that took the test for the first time in 2007.

Filipino nurses accounted for 37 percent of the 22,500 foreign-educated nurses who took the NCLEX for the first time in the first semester.

Herrera said that many Filipino nurses now prefer foreign labor markets other than America, particularly the United Kingdom and the Middle East.

“Actually, fewer nurses from India, Korea, Canada and Cuba are seeking US jobs as well,” he said.

Nurses from India who took the NCLEX for the first time in the first semester were down 56 percent to 750 from 1,715. Those from South Korea also dropped by 35 percent to 613 from 934.

Herrera claimed that about 600,000 nurses who passed the June 2009 licensure examination are now actively looking for jobs here and abroad and many of them have opted to work outside their profession.

The huge number of unemployed nurses includes the 99,837 who passed the local nursing licensure examinations from June 2008 to June 2009.

Last June alone, over 32,000 nursing graduates passed the licensure examination but local recruiters said they are unlikely to find employment abroad due to lack of necessary experience.

Meanwhile, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) reminded those who just passed the recent nursing licensure examination to personally register with the PRC.

Marco Sto. Tomas, PRC Board of Nursing member, also noted that the newly licensed nurses are scheduled to take their oath at the SMX Convention Center on Aug. 18 and 19.

Sto. Tomas said the schedule of oath taking will be according to school assignments and the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) will issue the necessary ticket for the event.

Schedule of regional oath taking is posted at www.bonphilippines.org.

Nurses Need To Be Updated On Developments: Musa Aman
Source: http://www.bernama.com
KOTA KINABALU, July 30 (Bernama) — In a day and age where new viruses like the Influenza A (H1N1) virus are being discovered and lifestyle diseases like hypertension and stress are growing, nurses need to equip themselves with new skills and knowledge, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said Thursday.

One way for the nurses to keep themselves updated was by attending conferences like the Second BIMP (Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines) International Nursing Conference launched today, he said.

“Health care is an important component of any nation, and on that same token, there is a need to maintain and uphold partnerships that will lead to better practices within the nursing profession.

“As a major part of the health care system, nurses have a huge impact in providing care to the sick, and they also help doctors and specialists in carrying out treatments,” he said at the launch of the conference here. His speech was delivered by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Peter Pang En Yin.

He also encouraged nurses and those involved in the health care profession to also focus on educating the public on disease prevention and how to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Musa also stressed the need for nurses in Sabah and the region to keep themselves updated on health tourism, which is an increasingly popular activity.

Meanwhile state health director Dr Marzuki Mohd Isa, in his keynote address, echoed Musa’s sentiments that the demands and issues in health care were getting more complicated and health care professionals were in the frontline of these crucial issues.

Managers in the service as well as nursing colleges need to make efforts to prepare the nurses towards meeting these challenges, as the nurses’ role rapidly expanded in today’s world, he said.

He said the past, current and shifting paradigms that impacted the health care demands needrf a new paradigm to generate ideas and rearrange the current system of nursing education for a new future.

Marzuki’s speech was delivered by his deputy, Dr Yusof Ibrahim.

– BERNAMA