Language skills remain major concern for foreign nursing care workers

TOKYO - While a new visa system approved by the Diet and to take effect in April has been welcomed by Japan's labor-short nursing care businesses, questions remain about how to provide sufficient Japanese language education for foreign workers.

Despite the government's steps taken in recent years to relax rules on foreign workers in the sector, language skills have been a major barrier.

Vu Thi Thu Trang from Vietnam is among the people who could obtain working status after the government eased the requirement for foreigners to work as caregivers.

The 31-year-old certified caregiver, who came to Japan in 2014, said she first found out about nursing care work while studying at a Japanese language school. She then entered a caregiver vocational school and finished a two-year curriculum earlier this year.

"I'm happy when people say 'thank you' to me. It makes me realize I'm doing something good," said Trang, who has been working in Tokyo since June.

Foreign students who became certified caregivers like Trang were not eligible to remain in Japan for work until a legal amendment in September last year.

Still, the relaxed rule did little to address the labor shortage for nursing facilities. As of June this year, only 177 foreigners were working in the country's nursing care industry after earning caregiver certification.

There are currently two other ways for foreigners to work as caregivers in Japan. The first is to participate in a work program provided under economic partnership agreements and gain a certificate while working at a nursing home. The other is using Japan's technical intern program.

However, a high Japanese-language competency requirement prevented either of the programs from significantly increasing the number of certified caregivers.

Those who passed a national exam to become a certified caregiver during their stay under the EPA program totaled 719 since between fiscal 2008 and 2017. After nursing care was added to the list of occupations for the technical intern program in November last year, only 247 trainees came to Japan.

By providing the new status from April, the government has said it expects to accept 5,000 foreign workers in the nursing sector the first year and up to 60,000 over five years.

Between the two new resident statuses created under the new visa system, the first type, valid for up to five years, is for people to engage in work that requires a certain level of knowledge including nursing care, and the second type for work that needs higher-level skills.

Applicants for the new working status will be required to pass Japanese-language and technical exams. Those who wish to work as caregivers will need skills equivalent to those of people who have received three years of training.

"I wonder if there are foreigners who meet such requirements," one nursing home official said.

Trang said Vietnamese who are looking to work abroad may not necessarily be attracted to the jobs being made available in Japan.

"In Vietnam, jobs in the automobile and computer industries are popular. There are many people who say they will choose South Korea or Taiwan," Trang said.

==Kyodo

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Short on staff: Nursing crisis strains U.S. hospitals

MORGANTOWN, West Virginia - A shortage of nurses at U.S. hospitals hit West Virginia’s Charleston Area Medical Center at the worst possible time.

The non-profit healthcare system is one of the state’s largest employers and sits in the heart of economically depressed coal country. It faces a $40 million deficit this year as it struggles with fewer privately insured patients, cuts in government reimbursement and higher labor costs to attract a shrinking pool of nurses.

To keep its operations intact, Charleston Medical is spending this year $12 million on visiting or “travel” nurses, twice as much as three years ago. It had no need for travel nurses a decade ago.

“I’ve been a nurse 40 years, and the shortage is the worst I’ve ever seen it,” said Ron Moore, who retired in October from his position as vice president and chief nursing officer for the center. Charleston Area Medical’s incentives include tuition reimbursement for nursing students who commit to work at the hospital for two years.

“It’s better to pay a traveler than to shut a bed,” he said.

Hospitals nationwide face tough choices when it comes to filling nursing jobs. They are paying billions of dollars collectively to recruit and retain nurses rather than risk patient safety or closing down departments, according to Reuters interviews with more than 20 hospitals, including some of the largest U.S. chains.

In addition to higher salaries, retention and signing bonuses, they now offer perks such as student loan repayment, free housing and career mentoring, and rely more on foreign or temporary nurses to fill the gaps.

The cost nationwide for travel nurses alone nearly doubled over three years to $4.8 billion in 2017, according to Staffing Industry Analysts, a global advisor on workforce issues.

The burden falls disproportionately on hospitals serving rural communities, many of them already straining under heavy debt like the Charleston Area Medical Center.

These hospitals must offer more money and benefits to compete with facilities in larger metropolitan areas, many of them linked to well-funded universities, interviews with hospital officials and health experts show.

Along West Virginia’s border with Pennsylvania, university-affiliated J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown is spending $10.4 million in 2017 compared with $3.6 million a year earlier to hire and retain nurses.

But these costs are part of the facility’s expansion this year, including adding more than 100 beds as it grows programs and takes over healthcare services from smaller rural providers that have scaled back or closed.

J.W. Ruby, the flagship hospital for WVU Medicine, offers higher pay for certain shifts, tuition reimbursement, $10,000 signing bonuses and free housing for staff who live at least 60 miles away.

Next year, the hospital is considering paying college tuition for the family members of long-time nurses to keep them in West Virginia.

“We’ll do whatever we need to do,” said Doug Mitchell, vice president and chief nursing officer of WVU Medicine-WVU Hospitals.

NOT LIKE OTHER SHORTAGES

A major driver is the aging of the baby boomer generation, with a greater number of patients seeking care, including many more complex cases, and a new wave of retirements among trained nurses.

Industry experts, from hospital associations to Wall Street analysts, say the crisis is harder to address than in the past. A faculty shortage and too few nursing school slots has contributed to the problem.

Hospitals seek to meet a goal calling for 80 percent of nursing staff to have a four-year degree by 2020, up from 50 percent in 2010. They also face more competition with clinics and insurance companies that may offer more flexible hours.

Healthcare experts warn that the shortfall presents risks to patients and providers. Research published in August in the International Journal of Nursing Studies found that having inadequate numbers of registered nurses on staff made it more likely that a patient would die after common surgeries.

UAB Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama, has invested millions to attract nurses, but still has 300 jobs to fill. At times, nursing vacancy rates in some of its departments has hit 20 percent or higher.

“We’ve rarely canceled a surgery or closed a bed because of lack of staffing,” said Terri Poe, chief of nursing at the hospital, the state’s largest, which serves many low income and uninsured residents.

Last year, the medical center covered nearly $200 million in unreimbursed medical costs for patients. It spent $4.5 million for visiting nurses during fiscal 2016, including $3 million for post-surgery services, compared with $858,000 in 2012.

Healthcare labor costs typically account for at least half of a facility’s expenses. They jumped by 7.6 percent nationally last year, after climbing at a rate closer to 5 percent annually in recent years, said Beth Wexler, vice president non-profit healthcare at Moody‘s. The spending has proven a boon for medical staffing companies like AMN Healthcare and Aya Healthcare.

Missouri’s nursing shortage reached a record high in 2017, with almost 16 percent - or 5,700 - of positions vacant, up from 8 percent last year. Thirty-four percent of Missouri registered nurses are 55 or older.

“Our biggest challenge is getting the pipeline of experienced nurses,” said Peter Callan, director of talent acquisition and development at the University of Missouri Health Care in Columbia, which is expanding. “There are fewer and fewer as people retire.”

Last year, the academic medical center hired talent scouts to identify candidates, Callan said. It spends $750,000 a year on extras to attract and keep nurses, including annual $2,000 bonuses to registered nurses who remain in hard-to-fill units and up to five years of student loan repayment assistance. It offers employee referral bonuses and a chance to win a trip to Hawaii.

Smaller hospitals find it much harder to compete in this climate. More than 40 percent of rural hospitals had negative operating margins in 2015, according to The Chartis Center for Rural Health.

In rural Missouri, 25-bed Ste. Genevieve County Memorial Hospital had to offer signing bonuses, tuition reimbursement and pay differentials when staffing is “critically low” in units such as obstetrics.

They haven’t closed beds, but have hired less experienced nurses, raised salaries and turned away at least one patient who would have been in its long term care program.

“We’ve had to try whatever it takes to get nurses here,” said Rita Brumfield, head of nursing at the hospital. “It’s a struggle every day to get qualified staff.”

To see the entire graphic on the U.S. nursing shortage, click tmsnrt.rs/2xQ9Y0K

source: news.abs-cbn.com

8 West Visayas State U grads top nurse licensure exam

ILOILO CITY - Cheers, applause, and laughter were heard at the lobby of the College of Nursing at West Visayas State University Monday morning after eight of its graduates were included in the top 10 of the June 2017 Nursing Licensure Exam.

One hundred and twenty-five of the 126 examinees from the university also passed.

The university had the second highest passing percentage with 99.21 passing rate.

Mary Angelie Cabañez, 21 years old, topped the board exam with a rating of 86.2%.

She considered this achievement as a gift because since she almost missed the exam due to thyroidectomy.

The operation turned out to a blessing in disguise as three sets of the exam were focused on thyroids.

Cabañez wants to work in the Philippines. However, she will not think twice if there is an opportunity for her to pursue her career abroad.

Unlike Cabañez, 7th placer Julie May Suganob did not expect she would be among those who will top the exam.

She said her patients inspired her to pass the examination.

It was in 1993 when a WVSU graduate last topped the nursing board exam.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

LIST: Best performing nursing schools in the Philippines

More than 9,100 passed the Nurse Licensure Examination given by the Board of Nursing in November 2015.

About 18,500 nursing graduates took the exams held in Manila, Bacolod, Baguio, Cabanatuan, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Dagupan, Davao, Iloilo, Laoag, Legazpi, Lucena, Pagadian, Tacloban, Tuguegarao and Zamboanga.

Alyssa Claire Anguren Almo from Remedios T. Romualdez Medical Foundation, Suha Canlas Hassan Magdy Mohammed Ibrahim from Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila and Alyssa May Bringas Madriaga from the University of Santo Tomas topped the exams with a rating of 86.4.

Here are the top 10 best performing nursing schools in the Philippines, based on the November 2015 nursing board exams.

Only schools that had 50 or more examinees and with at least 80% passing rate were included on this list by the PRC.

Mobile users can view the desktop version of the slideshow here.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Top 10 best performing nursing schools in the Philippines

More than 9,700 passed the Nurse Licensure Examination given by the Board of Nursing this year.

Almost 17,900 nursing graduates took the exams held in Manila, Bacolod,Baguio, Cabanatuan, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Dagupan, Davao, Iloilo, Laoag, Legazpi, Lucena, Pagadian, Tacloban, Tuguegarao, and Zamboanga.

Benedict Rey Montas Serrano, a graduate of Bicol University-Legazpi, topped the exams with a rating of 86.4.

Here are the top 10 best performing nursing schools in the Philippines, based on the 2015 nursing board exams.

Only schools that had 50 or more examinees and with at least 80% passing rate were included on this list by the PRC.

View this slideshow in Desktop site

 10. University of Saint La Salle

The University of St. La Salle is a private Catholic university in Bacolod City.
50 out of 55 examinees from this school passed the 2015 nursing board exams.

 source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

US-based Pinoy nurses angered by Cynthia Villar's statement

Over the weekend, social media was abuzz over a statement perceived to be an attack on Filipino nurses. The statement was made by a former lawmaker who is vying for a seat at the Philippine Senate.

In an electoral forum on Philippine TV, former Las Pinas City representative, now Philippine Senatorial candidate Cynthia Villar answered a question about why she sided with the owners of shut-down nursing schools and not with the nursing student.

"Actually hindi naman kailangan ng nurse ay matapos ng BSN or Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Kasi itong ating mga nurses, gusto lang nilang maging room nurse, sa America or other countries, parang mag-aalaga. Hindi naman sila kailangan maging ganoon kagaling," Villar said.

Filipino nurses took to social media to show their anger on the candidate's statement, including the Filipina nurse recently honored by President Obama during his State the Union address.

"Ang taas na ng pagtingin ng mundo sa atin, naitaas na natin eh, tapos binababa naman niya. Talagang na hurt talaga ang mga nurses, ang sabi ko nga everybody has their own mind, masasabi niya kahit anong gusto niyang sabihin pero tayo meron tayo may magagawa tayo, ang dapat nating gawin, yung mga ganung tao hindi natin nilalagay sa pwesto," said Menchu Sanchez, who was honored by Obama for saving critically ill babies in neo-natal ICU at the height of superstorm Sandy.

Other Filipino nurses in Jersey City said they came to America not to become what Villar calls a "room nurse" but to be professional nurses who can move up the ladder of success

"Yes, nagpupunas kami ng mga pwet ng mga pasyente, naglilinis kami ng mga sugat at lahat ng ganyan pero ang masasabi ko lang sana hindi siya magkasakit ng sobra sobra, dahil alam ko dadaan siya sa mga kamay ng nurses. Sana lang marealize niya na yung sinabi niya mali, kasi it takes so much to be a nurse, it was too degrading, it was too insulting," said Dez Choi, a Filipino nurse in New Jersey.

"Nowadays marami nang roles na ina-assume ang mga nurses especially Filipino nurses. I think we have broken through - na mainstream na tayo, like me personally I'm taking my MSN ngayon, my masters. I've been here almost 6 years so hindi totoo na puro lang kami bedside kasi merong nasa management na," said nurse Maridel Maulawin from Chicago.

Villar earlier has apologized to the Philippine Nurses Association for her remarks, saying she had no intention to belittle anyone--especially the nursing profession.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

16,908 pass nursing board exams

MANILA - A graduate of Colegio de Sta. Lourdes of Leyte Foundation topped the nurse licensure exam held last December.

Glicyle Arante Alvero of the nursing school in Leyte placed first with a score of 85.8%.

Tied for second with a score of 85.4% are Phyllis Glee Cuyag Guting of Mountain View College; Afla Cresia Nacino Nilo of St. Mary's University, and Billy Tabon Rabago of New Era University.

A total of 16,908 out of 49,066 passed the nurse licensure exam given last December 2012.

Click here to view complete reuslts

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Where are the Nurses?

“It’s more safe in the Philippines.”

That should be the slogan of Department of Tourism because of the hundreds of thousands of Nurses that tourists may encounter when they visit the country. They need not worry if they have heart attack, stroke, or diabetic attack, because for sure in any unholy or unexpected places be it in a mall, a tricycle terminal, on a jeepney or in the heavenly shores of Boracay, somebody will ask them "Hey, hey, hey are you okay?"

In the data of Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) as of this year, there are around 700,000 Registered Nurses in their record excluding 27,000 Nurses who just passed the recent Board exams. Among the 700,000 licensed holders, 100,000 are estimated to be working around the world as OFW and a staggering 400,000 or more are unemployed. The remaining few are working but not in the line of nursing (like call center agents, pre school teachers, real estate agents, waiter, waiters, salesman and saleslady among others).

I tried to look back as to how this hulabaloo started. Frankly, I got confused tracing back how it all began. How in the world can we have so many nurses in the Philippines??? If I may, let us go back to the year 2000 when President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo started to promote nursing as a gateway to the US to seek for the proverbial greener pastures in the so-called “land of milk and honey”, and by that, I am not referring to Israel or the Promised Land.

The second wave of Nurse Immigrants had started. The exodus to the United States was the answer to the growing need of a comfortable life that these islands cannot offer. As a result, nursing schools sprouted in just about every corner of the streets that you can think of. For the first time, the clinical instructors were earning so much because of the influx of enrollees. Every school that wanted to earn big moolah offered BS Nursing. For a while Nursing was the milking cow of the academe. Parents who dreamed of a better life for their offspring whether female, male, gay or homosexual prioritized Nursing. Awww, never mind if their heart is not into it, we just have to be practical these days. Nursing is the key to the USA.

So every one depended on Uncle Sam’s job opportunities. However, the 2011 World Trade attack resulted in a massive, worldwide, all-out war versus terrorism. Nobody ever expected the Great America would come into recession. Thereafter, US stopped the migration of Nurses to their country.

Poor Philippines. They relied on the promise of a new hope from a foreign land. Pity the parents who sold the last livestock and mortgaged the remaining piece of land that they own. Neneng, Totoy, Becky and Butch are left unemployed, unproductive and miserable. The departments and agencies of government (like DOH, CHED, PRC as well as the schools that profited) involved in the problem are left passing the buck. The Department of Health (DOH) COULD NOT THINK of any solution except to open volunteer programs for the hospitals to employ nurses. Since Nursing is a SERVICE occupation, hospitals might as well take advantage of this SERVICE and Nurses can and should render this for FREE. Good thinking.

Ahhh, the department that is tasked to uphold and protect the rights of the health workers seems to turn a blind eye on the plight of the very workers that make the department and its programs work. There is no solution that they can think of because according to them, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) did not approve the opening of plantilla positions for nurses in government. Hence, a brilliant band-aid solution cum idea, with the coordination of the different government agencies -DOH, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Social Welfare development (DSWD), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), provided a silver lining to the Nursing profession and thus, RN HEALS was born. In the said program Nurses are to receive a allowance of 8,000 per month plus 2,000 stipend from the Local government Unit (LGU) of the community that they are serving, a far cry from the Salary Grade 15 mandated by the Nursing Law (RA 9173). The Nurses complied fully, setting aside the issue of salary or safety, and bore in their hearts and minds the SERVICE that they promised to the profession and the people.

Hundreds and thousands of Nurses go through the common problems of unemployment, underemployment, contractualization, underpayment of salaries and inhumane working hours. Numerous have complained and protested, but none had the guts to come out and make him or herself public. Nobody had the nerve to sign their names in the complaint letter because of FEAR and HOPELESSNESS. Fear that the same department who should protect them will turn the tables on them, and hopelessness in their predicament.

Should Nurses accept the reality that a SERVICE PROFESSION will be paid pro-bono through out one’s entire career??? Perhaps I have found the answer to this question. As DOH claimed that there is a clamor for Nurses to work in the hospitals for FREE in exchange of a CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATION for the service rendered. I salute these Nurses then. They should be given the Florence Nightingale Award. I respect you more than the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) workers who faced the camera and threatened to go on strike for the benefits that they did not receive.

Volunteerism is a noble act. Trust me, I do that all the time for charities and organizations I believe in. But if a program of Volunteerism is used to benefit a department to save its funds meant for capital budget, I think DOH should have more political will to find the solutions to this long standing issue. Since there is a shortage of Nurses in the hospitals, why can’t we open positions first before opening a slot for volunteerism? I heard of an action for ‘Mandamus’ coming from friends in the legal profession. I wonder why DOH cannot file a petition before DBM if truly DOH cares for its workers?

My spirit is vexed. It seems the department that we are dealing with is apathetic to what we are appealing for. But it pains me more when I see Nurses accepting the abuses.

I’ve asked myself why am I active in this campaign? Clearly, I do not benefit from this because I could do so much more and have more fun doing other things that interests me. I will not earn here. But I have realized that I love the Philippines so much and I love the Filipinos even more. If all the Nurses are given a slot in the hospitals, following the Nurse Patient ratio (1:12) and deployed in the communities for primary health care then, maybe, just maybe, we can see a more developed country because its constituents are well and healthy.

Nurses, you have the POWER to stand for your RIGHT, to earn a living, to be given a decent salary and to have a work place conducive to professional development. We are his BOSSES. Let us demand what is RIGHTFULLY OURS. The promised “Tuwid na Daan” does not exempt anyone and I hope in the near future the DOH will exemplify in its policies, projects and programs the assurance of our DEAR President.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

27,823 pass nursing board

MANILA, Philippines—A total of 27,823 out of 60,895 passed the Nurse Licensure Examination, the Professional Regulation Commission announced on Thursday.

A University of Santo Tomas graduate, Roxanne Trinity Dotingco Lim, topped the exam, garnering a score of 86.2 percent.

Also read: UST student tops nursing board

Kristen Erika Hife Pino of Cebu Normal University, and Carmela Celebrado Shimizu of the University Of Saint Anthony shared the second spot at 85.4 percent.

Three of the top 10 performing schools have a 100 percent passing rate, the PRC said.

These schools are the Chinese General Hospital College of Nursing and Liberal Arts, Cebu Normal University (Cebu State College) and University of the Philippines-Manila.

The rest of the top performing schools are the West Visayas State University-La Paz, University of Santo Tomas, De la Salle University-Health Sciences Institute, Trinity University of Asia-Quezon City, Saint Louis University, Saint Paul University Iloilo, Benguet State University-La Trinidad, Velez College and Saint Paul University Dumaguete.

The Board of Nursing conducted the Nurse Licensure Examination in June in the cities of Manila, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Dagupan, Davao, Iloilo, Laoag, Legazpi, Lucena, Nueva Ecija, Pagadian, Pampanga, Tacloban, Tuguegarao and Zamboanga.

The results were released after 36 working days from the examination date.

The members of the Board of Nursing are Carmencita M. Abaquin, Chairman; Leonila A. Faire, Betty F. Merritt, Perla G. Po, Marco Antonio C. Sto.Tomas, Yolanda C. Arugay and Amelia B. Rosales.

Below are the lists of successful examinees:

A to B

C to D

E to F

G to I

J to M

N to R

S to Z

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

PNoy to CHED: Monitor nursing schools that performed poorly in licensure exams

MANILA, Philippines - President Benigno Aquino III has ordered the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to monitor nursing schools that have performed poorly in licensure examinations.

During the 18th founding anniversary of the CHED in Diliman, Quezon City on Thursday, Aquino lamented that some nursing schools had failed to produce a decent passing rate in the licensure exams and had taken advantage of their students.

"Imagine this, more than 80 schools have posted a passing rate of 30 percent or less since 2000 up to 2010. There are even some schools that have a zero passing rate for the past 10 years,” he said.

“To protect our students and their parents from this scheme, we have tasked CHED to monitor and keep an eye on these schools,” the President added.

He said the institutionalization of educational reforms remains a top priority of his administration.

Part of the measures adopted by the Aquino administration is a supplemental budget of P4.2 billion that has been allocated for state universities and colleges in December.

”We want to make sure our graduates have a fighting chance in the global market,” he said.

source: interaksyon.com

22,760 Pass Nursing Licensure Exam

MANILA, Philippines — The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) announces that 22,760 out of 67,095 passed the Nurse Licensure Examination given by the Board of Nursing in the cities of Manila, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Dagupan, Davao, Iloilo, La Union, Legazpi, Lucena, Nueva Ecija, Pagadian, Pampanga, Tacloban, Tuguegarao and Zamboanga last December 2011.

The top 10 successful examinees are: 1. Jerald Lalaguna Pelayo, Mountain View College , 86.40; 2. Linsid Angelou Absin Tapongot, Xavier University 86.00; 3. Joanne Layosa Santamaria, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, 86.80; 4. Jhomae Ferrer Castillo. Saint Mary's University, 85.20; Melchor Noval Dapo Jr., Manila Adventist Medical Center and Sch. of Medical Arts, Inc., 85.20; Ralph Ryan Villafranca de la Rosa, Xavier University, 85.20; Princess Roschelle Domingo Limson, University of Perpetual Help System-Laguna, 85.20; 5. Jobelle Mamaril Calicdan, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, 85.00; Jerico Puno Carreon, Manuel S. Energa Univ. Foundation-Lucena City, 85.00; Vins Mary Encarnacion Estilloro, University of San Agustin, 85.00; Reynaldo Serrano Flores Jr., Southern Luzon State University-Lucban (SLPC), 85.00; Romienne Lily June Soledad Garcia, University of Iloilo, 85.00; Euanne Cabillo Orellano, Remedios T. Romualdez Medical Foundation, 85.00; 6. Judy Caratao Bargas, Saint Anthony College of Roxas City, 84.80; Lexan Erdin Lim Cordial, Adventist University of the Philippines, 84.80; Mark Ray Aluk Espinoza, Xavier University, 84.80; 7. Katherene Palces Batuhan, Ateneo de Davao University, 84.60; Jack Lester Talaga Desembrana, Manuel S. Energa Univ. Foundation-Lucena City, 84.60; Raymond Frias Fabronero, University of San Carlos, 84.60; Nikki Ico Magleo, Saint Louis University, 84.60; Neil Dy Obsioma, Xavier University, 84.60; Tiffany Ann Palencia Palmares, Central Philippine University, 84.60; Niña Hamili Garde Piao, College of Maasin, 84.60; Paul Gibson Sepe Reyes, University of San Carlos, 84.60; Maria Mahini Camo Santos, Arellano University-Manila, 84.60; 8. Vincent Jerven Estose Barimbao, Xavier University, 84.40; Patrick Jose Agnar David, Saint Mary's University, 84.40; Zina Marlyn Lorenzo Fronda, Laguna Northwestern College, 84.40; Ma. Leander Salcedo Garcia, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, 84.40; Melanie Grace Sia Go, Xavier University, 84.40; Martina Aurea Malferrari Jugador, Xavier University, 84.40; Ruby Ann Mendoza Muyuela, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, , 84.40; Cris Joseph Florida Raymundo, Arellano University-Manila, 84.40; Kristian Irish Pipo Sacay, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, 84.40; Inna Joyce Jusi Siazon, Saint Paul University-Tuguegarao, 84.40; Carren Agnes Honrada Solidor, Xavier University, 84.40; Cheyserr Tubadeza Zingapan, Saint Mary's University, 84.40; 9. Robelen-Ann Getubig Callanta, Father Saturnino Urios University (Urios Coll), 84.20; Jinky Mendoza Cerbo, University of Perpetual Help Rizal-Molino, 84.20; Ingrid Doreen Sagun Dumalagan, Siliman University, 84.20; Kathleen Flores Eviza, Rizal Technological University, 84.20; Emman June Pahinte Rubin, Liceo de Cagayan University, 84.20; Jierell Mae Victor Saguinhon, Mountain View College, 84.20; Ana Marie Hernando Salsona, University of San Agustin, 84.20; Aga Años Sibal, Capitol University (for. Cagayan Capitol Coll.), 84.20; 10. Michelle Calamba Ariola, Saint Paul University-Tuguegarao, 84.00; Sharwin Marie Sarno Catedral, Colegio San Agustin-Bacolod City, 84.00; Ivy May Soy Daus, Saint Louis University, 84.00; Ma. Cleo Guada Leonil Villanel Dequito, San Pedro College-Davao City, 84.00; Julie Carmen Jimena Doreza, Saint Paul University-Iloilo, 84.00; Belly Marie Jalos Faller, Southern Luzon State University-Lucban (SLPC), 84.00; Bonife Marie Sentorias Gaso, Siliman University, 84.00; Erica Dizer Hilado, Colegio San Agustin-Bacolod City, 84.00; Paul Jensen Eleno Malicsi, Arellano University-Manila, 84.00; Opalyn Grace Salcedo Malunes, Colegio San Agustin-Bacolod City, 84.00; Evangelina Cruz Naredo, University of Makati, 84.00; Abegail Bucu Perez, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, 84.00; Mariel Kris Alcantara Rael, Xavier University, 84.00; Raiza Mae Gordiel Rodriguez, Xavier University, 84.00; Charles Riotita Sia, Saint Paul University-Tuguegarao, 84.00; Raygene Valerie Soriano Terrado, University of Luzon (Luzon Coll.), 84.00.

source: mb.com.ph

A fallback for unemployed nurses

MANILA, Philippines — To ease the unemployment woes of nursing graduates, a Quezon City councilor has filed a resolution that will include entrepreneurial subjects in the nursing curriculum.

Fourth District Councilor Jessica Castelo Daza said her proposal was meant to provide a fallback for nurses in case they land jobs outside of their nursing courses.

Under Resolution 5381, the Quezon City government will have to address the ballooning problem of unemployment of new nursing graduates by urging the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) to add entrepreneurial subjects in the course to help nursing graduates to venture into other fields in case of the unavailability of nursing jobs.

The never-ending story of what the nursing profession can offer to those who wanted to be successful in life is one of the reasons why the country produces an oversupply of nursing graduates who end up unemployed.

According to Daza, the majority of the nursing graduates fail to find employment in their preferred profession and finding the opportunity to have jobs related to their chosen career has become part of their efforts to survive after graduation.

It is a common knowledge, according to Daza, that nursing job opportunities in the country are scarce, hence, most of nursing graduates opted to work abroad as caregivers, dental assistants, nursing aides, or become part of the unemployment statistics.

Daza wants the city’s nursing graduates to be successful entrepreneurs but they will have to prepare for it while in the nursing schools.

There are more than 450 nursing schools in the country that produce hundreds of thousands of nursing graduates annually.

Most of the nursing graduates, even those who passed the board examinations, have remained unemployed due to the decreasing demand for the profession.

source: mb.com.ph