Archive for the ‘Nursing Industry in the Philippines’ Category

Nursing schools are scattered all over the country. It seemed like putting up a nursing school is purely for business only without considering the quality of education they will bestow to the nursing students. More schools are operating nowadays even though they lack equipments and/or instruments needed by the students for further enhancement of their knowledge and skills. Some people say that some schools provide more of the nursing theories rather than that of the nursing skills. While some schools also impart mostly on the skills rather than that of the theories. But in order to produce a more equipped and competitive nurse, both knowledge and skills should be present because both of these work hand in hand for the nurses to perform their duties and responsibilities effectively well.

The shrinking passing rates of the Nursing Board Examinations is utterly depressing. The failing rate is even higher compared to that of the passing rate. It is so upsetting to know that the passing rates of some schools are getting worse as time goes by. Who should be blamed? I think the nursing schools are the ones responsible about this unwanted situation that we are facing right now. The quality of education that the nursing schools provide to their students really matters a lot. So, those schools who have been getting very low passing rates for the past years should be warned and be given memo that once they cannot produce a good passing rate the next time, they can no longer operate or offer the Nursing course. =0

We Filipino nurses are, I believe, bereft of the attention that we need with regards to employment. Now, you can’t blame us if we convey our services to the people who truly appreciate our worth.

I’m just wondering what will happen to our lives if we would stay and “magpakabayni”. As much as we would love to, but our instincts would always heed the call of survival; after all, it’s human nature.

The famous Samuel Langhorne Clemens a.k.a. Mark Twain said: “There are lies, damned lies and then there are statistics”. I never appreciated this unlikely line until I asked my batch mates in nursing about their plans for the future. The result: none of them wants or should I say, none of us wants to stay and practice our pledged profession in our beloved country. I couldn’t agree more. I truly believe that the simple survey that I did reflects the entire nursing population of the country.

What will happen if this trend would die hard? I could only remember one authority of the government who somewhat answered this question. An answer tantamount to: “no worries, we mass-produce nurses”….

Back when I was still a nurse volunteer of a private hospital in my province, I was often queasy going on duties because of my fear of committing a mistake and be scolded by my superiors, the doctors and the patients. In one of my duties I was assigned in the medical ward and one of my patients was a man from a celebrated pedigree. He was admitted due to asthma. Being a private hospital, most of the rich, famous and influential people in my province choose it whenever they need medical help. My patient has a PRN order of nebulization whenever he has difficulty in breathing. My senior nurse partner was about to attend a meeting and she told me to call her whenever my patient needs a nebulization. She slid my patient’s nebules in her pocket (it was a special and expensive med intended for my patient only, perhaps to keep it safe) and went straight to her meeting.

A few hours later, my patient’s son came to the station and asked me to nebulize his father; he can’t sleep because of difficulty in breathing. I called my senior nurse but unfortunately her phone was dead and she was nowhere to be found; I was getting nervous. I searched for the same med in the station but there was none. I told my patient’s son about what’s happening but he became furious and yelled at me. I was quivering in my way back to the station when I thought of something to save my ass—placebo. I took a 5ml syringe and withdraw a water for injection and hurried back to my patient’s suite. They asked where I took the med and I answered it’s the same med from another station. Luckily, my patient’s breathing bettered and in a few moments, he was asleep.

When my senior nurse came back I told her what happened and she just forced a smile and said “really?”…. Wow! A “really?” for a prize.

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?

I am nurse here in the Philippines and have been working on a government hospital for almost three years now. Good for those Filipino nurses who work in private healthcare institutions that they don’t have to suffer the inhuman amount of stress that government hospitals impose on their nurses—like me.

I am particularly talking about the number of patients that I have to attend to every duty; oftentimes, it’s way beyond my human capacity. It is not really unusual to solely take care of at least 25 patients every duty— it is unusual if the number of patient would be less than the figure I mentioned. On one of my duties, the nursing aide did not report to duty and we were only two nurses in the ward to take care of 65 patients. Though most patients were stable, some were on monitoring status and the nursing aide’s work was another burden that was placed on us; it was truly a grueling day in the hospital.

What I could not understand is that, there are so many nurses in the country but why in the world could the government not hire more nurses to turn the nurse-patient ratio to what is ideal. Why? Are their sources of corruption waning?

In pursuit of continuing professionalism, Filipino nurses tend to become distant to the wards of the hospital. Once a nurse obtains an MA or a PhD, he or she flies from the wards to the universities or hospital offices—-another reason why the quality of care in Philippine hospitals is becoming poor. He or she who studied further to become a master in the nursing field could no longer be seen in his/her supposed field. Still, you can’t blame them; it would lead to a common thing called “compensation”. You have the finest deal, then I’m with you.
Nurses in some hospitals here in the Philippines are now mandated to get a master degree— a brilliant effort of our countrymen in an attempt to improve the quality of health care in our beloved nation. Nevertheless, Filipino nurses are using these two letters attached to their names as an instrument to generate more income. A friend of mine (with an MA) who works as a clinical instructor in a university gets at least 20,000 pesos a month while a nurse in a hospital (also having an MA) gets only 13-15,000 pesos a month, in a poor country like the Philippines, 5,000 is a remarkably big amount. On the other hand, an MA is also a plus factor for nurses planning to work abroad. True, the money that you have to spend to earn the degree is another burden but having those two little letters next to your name could create a huge impact in your career. Heard about big things coming from small packages?
If hospitals would only compensate fairly the nurses’ efforts and services then I would not be writing this blog in the first place. Come to think of it, simple logic, you have a master degree, you have years of experience so you ought to be paid big. To those who believe otherwise, you’ve got a problem but if you’re a self-confessed martyr, then I rest my case.
So the next time you are asked “where have all the master nurses gone?” You now know the answer.

In the Philippines or perhaps anywhere in the world, it has been socially accepted that the well-off gets the best treatment in any events and the poverty stricken otherwise. There are a lot of instances wherein we could conspicuously see how this mentality works. Take for example the soap operas in the television. Usually, there would be a rich character and a poor one. And if you are one of those soap opera addicts (meaning watching it diligently form beginning till the end) then you would clearly see how the poor people are being exploited, battered by the society. In stark contrast the rich are leading a lavish lifestyle and receiving the best treatment.
Such mentality applies to almost everywhere in our society and is easily seen in our day to day lives. As a nurse I could see it in the hospital too. Based on my observation, when a nurse knows that a patient comes from an affluent or influential family, a bell would ring in her mind that every move should be perfect and every care should be planned to please the patient. Nothing or no one should make this patient angry or else. On the other hand, when a nurse knows that a patient is a marginalized member of the society and financially incapacitated the same bell in her mind would ring that the treatment could be petty, light or worst, carefree. I have seen this mentality ever since I was a student nurse and unfortunately have continued to observe this behavior in the hospital.  Look at it this way, two patients are admitted with the same condition, same age, same sex, everything is the same except for one thing, their economic status. Of course, the rich gets the treatment first and the poor, if not next, then last. That’s how this distorted mentality plays out. Now back to the situation, take away the money issue. Everything is fair now. How would you treat both patients? Fairly, I bet. Without money, no one is above the other, we are just human beings.
I am only speaking on what I have observed. If you are above this distorted mentation then you are to be commended.  I for one guiltily admit that I too have the tendency of having this sinister bell ringing in my mind. Nevertheless, it’s only up to us to overcome this mentality. They say money makes the world go round; often times true, but let this adage be of no effect when it comes to healthcare deliverance. Money should not be an issue.  Health care should be a basic human right, not just a privilege.