Archive for the ‘Filipino Nurses Striving to Work Abroad’ Category

It was the summer of 2005, everyone is busy; busy planning how to spend this time of year. And me, I’m busy packing my things. I don’t know if I should be happy that I’m leaving or should I be sad because of the life that I would be leaving behind; the ambivalence is, by far, the most excruciating thing that I felt.

I was 23 years old when I first set foot in the most coveted country for most Filipino nurses: the USA; young and determined but utterly vulnerable in so many ways. I have spent a fair amount of sniffling during my early days of the country and persistently wiping the tears off my eyes that’s been relentlessly flooding it. I was depressed. I missed my family, my home and everything I left behind.

Most of the Filipino nurses who survived the strain of unhappiness and depression in the US said that to lessen my periods of sadness, I should drown myself with work and before I’ll know it, I’d be comfortable to such scenario. True enough, it did helped me and I adjusted fairly well. Exactly 9 months passed and I realized I’m already living the so called “American dream”. All the episodes of depression as well as hard work have paid off. Seeing my family living a happy and satisfied life back there in the Philippines is more than enough to turn all those stress into a wonderful melody.

It is indeed fulfilling to know that I am helping my family a lot there in my home country. Now I don’t mind the distance and the longing that I often feel during my quiet times; as long as my family is happy. It’s been 5 years since I left. I came home twice. I have a beautiful apartment. I’m driving my own BMW. I have travelled to a lot of places. I never had the chance to taste all these luxuries in my homeland. 5 years of working as a nurse in the US; well, I guess it’s safe for me to say that I am a successful nurse now.

To all the Filipino nurses who’re struggling to work here in the US, don’t loose hope. I know the way to realizing your dreams has been clogged up by the existing recession. But this should not be a reason for you to stop believing. The recession has been attacking us for quite sometime now. There should be a time that it will be exhausted and would pass away. Just keep the faith.

I am a registered nurse for almost five years already. I am currently working as a staff nurse in a tertiary hospital here in our city. I could say that I am unfortunate in terms of applying abroad. I am still passed up here in our country. Who doesn’t want to be a USRN or to have a stable Nursing job overseas where more opportunities await us? Actually, I have been a victim for how many times already. I admit, the problem is also with me. I have to blame myself also for being too innocent about scams. I easily trust without any doubt about fake agencies believing on their false reassurance and humongous offers abroad. And at the end, I was ditched alone with nothing with an empty pocket and teary eyed. Lesson learned? Never trust strangers easily. Don’t ever risk yourself in paying those high processing fees without consulting the POEA (Philippine Overseas Employment Agency) and significant others who will help you in your decision making.

We have to be extra careful especially when money is involved. Because of poverty, many people engage to different crimes such as scam. Bottom line? Be aware!!!

There is a constant change that blows the mind of every Filipino nurse. Aside from the obvious fact that we are growing in number so rapidly and that most of us can no longer find a job in our country; there is a stench of despair around us. Many of us wonder whether or not there really is a future waiting for us out there, a promise land where we can live happily ever after…

While there may not be such a reality, we must never give up believing.

Like how a nurse cares for his or her client holistically, he or she must see life as a whole… He must see the world and everything and everyone in it as part of everything else and as part of the whole universe… A nurse should open his or her eyes to all the possibilities. He or she must be able to seek an opportunity and learn how to grab it. He or she must never give up learning and caring for others. For every nurse, like anyone or anything else in this world, has a great purpose; whatever that is, it’s just up to the person to recognize and heed to his or her call. And in order for a nurse to do this, he or she must never ever lose hope and never cease on believing.

-Hope

They say the only wish of a nurse is to go abroad.
I say, “Heck Yeah!”… It’s so damn hard for a nurse in this country to really get a good-paying job. No wonder there is the so-called “brain drain” that affects greatly our health care system. Everybody’s going out. There’s just not enough hospitals to go around. Do you want to be a volunteer all your miserable life? I don’t think so.

Nurses have witnessed enough corruption in this country. A lot of those are even happening in many hospitals. “Sheesh”, I so hope that we can vote for the “lesser evil” politicians this coming election. Since most nurses want to leave this place, they might as well leave it on the hands of those who can really take good care of it.

It’s hard enough to leave our girlfriends, our friends and ultimately our families to the hands of these blood-sucking politicians who can’t even do anything about the overwhelming surplus of nurses. I’m cryin’ out loud! Will somebody do something about this?!

-A Nurse Who Can Wish And Vote

It is but noble to render one’s services to his/her own country, but if we’re talking about survival, it makes the entire topic different. This is what happened to the nursing industry here in the Philippines: after passing the board exam, experience for a while then the nurse bids goodbye and fly to another country.

This has always been the case and you can’t blame the nurses for having such mentality because of the poor opportunities here in the Philippines. It may sound ridiculous but for your information, a US-based Filipino nurse’s monthly wage is way too big (not less than 100,000Php) compared to the Philippine president’s (around 45,000Php). Let’s be honest, we all want to live a good life with our families but the Philippine government could hardly give it to us.

Ironically, It would be libelous to say that poverty in our country is still lurking because it has attacked us already and most are badly wounded. With this, adrenaline rush comes in; the flight or fight mechanism. Some had resorted to flight and literally flew and found safety in other countries. How about you? Would you rather fly or just choose to fight?

Is there still hope for a Filipino nurse to work in the US? A question that’s been baffling the minds of every Filipino nurses who dream of working in the said country. I know that applying for a visa is no laughing matter and with the ongoing recession the waiting has seemed to get into our nerves. A lot of Filipino nurses are disheartened by these facts. Am I right or am I right?
For your information, the current recession is only limiting the hiring of foreign nurses; in that manner they could prioritize their own. What does that mean? It means there is still a shortage of manpower in the healthcare area. They are doing that to suffice the demand for nurses in their country but still their effort is not enough. Healthcare being one of the only areas unaffected by the global recession, they still need more nurses and it has been predicted that it would worsen as soon as America regains its economy. Why is that so?
Retired nurses in the US are forced to go back to work in their effort to support their families from the strain that the recession is giving them. Now, that’s one of the reasons why the hiring of foreign nurses in the US is slowing down. But what would happen when the US regains their stupendous and prosperous economy? There is a foreseen exodus of old nurses (that includes the retired nurses) thereby leaving behind a huge hollow in the nursing area—a shortfall of nurses. This may happen in the next 3-5 years with the American economy slowly crawling its way back to the top and there are only a few ways to cream off the impending problem and that is to hire foreign nurses (like Filipinos). Filipino nurses being known as efficient, fast learners and hard working people (and good English speakers as well), there is a fat chance and we are standing in front of the line for hiring.
I’m sure by now some of you are drowned with despair and have thought of your dream to have died already. Well, it’s about time to revitalize that dream cause soon you’ll see it realize right before your eyes. Just keep the faith; it may not be as soon as tomorrow, but it definitely is close at hand.

It rooted from a promise of a bright future in other countries. The Nursing degree proves to be one of the most transacted entities in the Philippines nowadays. Because of this promise parents are encouraging and even coercing their children to take up the Nursing course in the belief that someday their almost wretched life would better. Now, because of this promise the number of nurses being produced by the Philippines each year is speedily increasing to the point that the supply is outweighing the demand. You see, the promise is now slowly turning out to be a myth. The world being in crisis, countries are slowing down their hiring of overseas workers. Nurses are now desperately strategizing in an effort to survive the presenting awry of supply and demand. Others resort to jobs that are a total stranger to the Nursing degree. Others try to be self-employed and bravely start their own businesses. And some others, on their desire to just slip away from this country and prove to themselves that the promise is still a fact, would embark to what is now called “the student visa”.
I for one tried to apply for this kind of visa. The United Kingdom being known as a rich country, I was intrigued and excited by the offers the company was telling me. They promise to bring you to the UK in three to four months, stay there for two years as a student and live with your stipend, because it is a work-based kind of teaching (which is about 5 -6.5 pounds an hour, 48 hours a week, not a bad amount) to sustain your daily necessities there. It was bloody brilliant, I said to myself jokingly. They even showed me pictures of successful applicants who are now in the UK. It was a legal company, their credibility has been challenged a lot of times but their intentions proved to be purely business and no scams were involved. The sign up fee involves a not so big amount. This would cater the initial processing of your papers. But those were just the sugar coating. After the sign up fee, you would need to pay 300,000 pesos for your tuition fee (since you will be going there as a student), then you would need not less than 200,000 pesos as show money to prove that you could survive in the UK without depending only to what your stipend can provide. Now that’s a total of half a million pesos already, a huge amount. Though I don’t have anything against the company but the money involved is very big. If you loan the money here in the Philippines from a bank or usury perhaps, it’s hard to even just pay the interest if you’ll depend only to the ample amount of stipend that you are earning there. True, you are earning pounds but since you are in the UK you also need to spend pounds and since your visa is a student you can’t get a sideline job there for it would be illegal, very risky and a ground for deportation. It’s only up to you to manage what you have earned there to pay for everything that you need to pay. For me, chances of becoming successful there using the student visa are very slim. After the two-year period if you can’t get a company to sponsor your visa to be converted into working or immigrant you need to come back home to the Philippines. It’s really one huge of a risk.
I managed to get in touch with one of their successful applicants who is in now in the UK studying in a certain Nursing school in the UK (through a social networking site). I introduced myself courteously and told her how noble and plain my intensions were. She is also from my province. I asked her if how she’s doing in the UK, is it ok there, were the promises carried out well. I saw her pictures in the UK, pictures like her lying over a snow-filled backyard, walking in a snow-filled street, pictures proving that she is in the UK already as what she have written in her location in that particular networking site. I waited for days for her to reply, I reckoned she’s busy, but every time I view her account it says “last log in: 24hrs”, obviously she has read my message but doesn’t want to reply because of reasons I would never know. With that, I rested my case and decided not to pursue on this student visa thing. But I still am not closing any doors. It’s just all about the courage, if you are dauntless enough to risk then go for it. I may not have the courage it takes to risk right now but when worst comes to worst then I guess risking would be an impetus that should be expected. But for now my mind is clouded with indecision.

I’m not a sexist of any sort but let me just share to you all this crazy experience I have as a male nurse who dreams of working abroad. Right from the start, my vision is to work abroad, it’s actually one of the reasons why I took up Nursing. It is a known fact here in the Philippines that once you are a nurse working abroad, you’re earning a lot of money. As a young lad back then, naïve and fragile, I was amazed by this fact and told myself; why not follow the path that these successful nurses have taken? I’ve heard of stories or even see Filipino nurses coming home from abroad and how much they acted like millionaires and spend their hard-earned money just to see their family happy and contented. Wow! Just how gratifying is that.
Before, when I was a student nurse, I used to tell my parents that I have bigger chances of getting hired as a nurse overseas because of my gender. My parents then would ask; why? Then I ignorantly replied; because the males are a lot stronger than the females. Then my parents would just laugh. At first I was focused on working in America. But with financial incapability hindering, my parents being mere government employees, I resorted to plan B which is the Middle Eastern countries, UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, etc.. It’s a lot cheaper applying there, though my ultimate dream is still to work in America. Perhaps, I’ll use the Middle Eastern countries as a spring board so I can save more money that I will use to fund my application for the USA and as a secondary gain I’ll be equipped with the necessary knowledge and experience. That was my plan. I worked on a hospital here in the Philippines for two years and three months, just enough experience I need so that I can be hired as a nurse in the Middle East. And so I had all the necessary documents ready for my application. I applied from one agency to another. I personally went to their offices and mingled with other walk-in applicants. I also applied on the internet. Now, the interview days have come. I practiced my spiels, talked to myself in front of the mirror, I did everything to impress the interviewer or the employer but things turned out to be twisted. My application, if not trashed, is denied from agency to agency. At first, I can’t understand it; I am absolutely qualified like the ones who were hired. In fact, I’m even more qualified compared to the others who were hired. Not until I noticed a common trend from most of the agencies. They are choosing and hiring female nurses regardless of whose resume looks grandiose. As long as they meet the qualifications needed, then they’re on their way to the Middle East. If ever they hire male nurses there would only be one in a group of ten. I didn’t give up, I still applied to various agencies but it was useless. Some agencies would even post: “We Need Female Nurses for Middle East”. with my perseverance, I can still remember one instance when a lady from one of the agencies that I applied called and asked me if I have a license to drive and know how to drive a four-wheeled vehicle, I said yes, then the lady told me to come over to manila at the soonest possible time for an interview, she said one slot would be reserved for me and rest assured, I will be hired, the interview would just be for formality’s sake. I was excited but puzzled; I applied as a nurse not a driver. So I asked the lady; are you sure ma’am? She said yes, you’re a registered nurse right? A doctor from Saudi Arabia needs a male private nurse and he wants the nurse to drive for him on his way to the hospital where he worked. Then I said yes and I’ll see what I can do. As the conversation was terminated I can’t help but to burst into laughter. A private nurse works privately for someone, works related to medicine, caring, well being— but driving a car for that someone? It’s another story, its way beyond the scope of a nurse’s duty. But if truth be told, I almost gave in to that offer but my conscience dictates; I didn’t go through all those years of experience, schooling, and training just to become a driver. What amount of pride would be left for me if I’ll take the offer? It was a funny experience… and depressing.
Now I’m actually clueless as to where I would be going. Good for me that I have a decent and good paying job right now. But like most of us, we strive to be more, we want to be more and I won’t stop believing that someday, I will be more……

On my quest for the star spangled banner’s lair, I applied for an immigrant visa in the US. The pastures there are really green so I’m enticed like most nurses here in the Philippines. You can’t help it, opportunities for nurses here in the Philippines are really pathetic, not to mention the increasing numbers of new nurses. I love my country; I want to make that clear but before loving someone or something you first have to love yourself right? I mean, how could you love someone or something if you no longer exist because you didn’t even care to love yourself? Selfishness or selflessness is out of the picture here. Well, I’m just speaking on my own behalf.
Applying for an immigrant visa at first was really fast. I thought in a year I’ll see myself taking pictures of the Statue of Liberty in New York or the Golden Gate Bridge in California. I even said to my friends that I’m flying to the US soon and jokingly say, perking up “so I’ll see you in the shores of Florida?” or “I’ll be playing poker with you in the casinos of Nevada?” or “we’ll be dancing Hula in Hawaii”. It was really funny — and boastful. The humor of my wisecracks is now mirrored in my present situation. It’s been three years since I applied and still nothing has happened. In an effort to make myself useful to my family I have applied for jobs beyond the scope of my degree. I became an interior designer, a call center agent, an IELTS reviewer, I even sing for weddings… and I’m a nurse; just how crazy was that? lol. The percentage of unemployment here in the Philippines is perspicuously high. Damn the recession, it’s making this third world country even worst! The rich and powerful nations seem so busy battling over this global crisis that they care less and less. Which one of them has reached out to struggling countries like the Philippines? The government says we’re perfectly fine and I can’t seem to fathom from which resource they got their information from because as an educated citizen of this nation I can’t help but feel that we really are not. How can they’ve mustered the courage and confidence to say that our nation is just doing well? It is an unbelievable, ostentatious and a consummate lie. Are we doomed? I Hope not….
I don’t really know what the future holds for me. I’m just living each day as it comes, crossing my fingers for any forms of luck that would come my way. Any luck that I would gladly embrace. But hey, my fingers are getting tired of crossing already… any changes?