Jerrie M. Abella, GMA News, August 1, 2010 The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has said job opportunities for Filipino nurses in Switzerland, Denmark and other European countries remain to be "minimal." The POEA issued the clarification that only a few nursing jobs are available in the region, following announcement from some groups that jobs for health professionals abound in Europe. “Most countries in the European Union (EU) prioritize its citizens over foreigners looking for work in their respective countries," POEA administrator Jennifer Manalili said in a statement posted on the agency’s website last week. ... Very

Caroline J. Howard, ABS CBN News, July 9, 2010 Manila - An estimated 187,000 Filipino nurses are unemployed. The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) says these nurses are competing for some 70,000 nursing positions in private and public hospitals. But as if that were not enough, the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) admits the problem of unemployment in the nursing profession may just have gotten bigger. "Another 92,000 nursing students took the board exams last Saturday. By statistics, 50% or less would pass, so you could expect [at least] 35,000 to be added to the swelling number of unemployed," says PNA President Dr. Tita Barcelo. ... The

Apples Jalandoni, ABS-CBN News, July 4, 2010 Manila – Richard Palikpik was one of the 92,000 nursing graduates who took the licensure examinations on Saturday. Palikpik said he spent the last 3 months reviewing for the exam. “Ayaw namin bumaba pa ang aming rating para hindi rin bumaba ang tingin ng ibang bansa sa amin,” he said. But according to an official of the Review Center Association of the Philippines (RECAP), failing in the exams should be the least of the nursing graduates’ concerns. ... Number

Paul John A. Vesagas, Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro, July 4, 2010 The Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) in Northern Mindanao is expecting 2,947 registered examinees to take the bi-yearly Nurses Licensure Examination (NLE) in Cagayan de Oro, which started Saturday and ends today, Sunday. The PRC said these registered examinees are nursing graduates from the cities of Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, Malaybalay and the neighboring areas of Butuan City and Surigao City. Cagayan de Oro City is among the seven testing sites all over the country for the NLE. Other testing sites include Manila, Cebu, Iloilo, Baguio, Davao and Zamboanga. Nationwide, over 80,000 nursing graduates are set to take the NLE. ... 2,947

Inquirer.net, April 1, 2010 Manila - National Nurses United (NNU), a 150,000-strong organization of registered nurses based in the United States, asked the Philippine government to release the 43 health workers who were arrested in Morong, Rizal. NNU, through its co-presidents Deborah Burger, Karen Higgins and Jean Ross, also wrote US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, making the same call and stressing that the arrest and continuing detention of the so-called Morong 43 are illegal and constitute human rights violations. In a news release, the health organization also posed their deep concerns on how dedicated health workers are being treated ... US

ABS-CBN News, October 22, 2009 Manila - Joblessness in the US could be a reason why the number of Filipino nurses taking the United States national licensure examinations decreased, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines said on Thursday. "The confidence of foreign workers in America’s economic supremacy has clearly been shaken by the staggering job losses there," TUCP secretary general Ernesto Herrera said in a press statement. Herrera said Filipino nurses’ desire to seek employment in the US by taking the National Council Licensure Exams (NCLEX) dropped by 21.38% in nine months to September this year. ... Fewer

Radzini Oledan, Sun.Star, June 29, 2007 Health is a fundamental right, and delivery of health care is dependent on the availability of a qualified health force. Steadily, the country has supplied the health manpower needs of developed nations while facing a severe crisis in the homefront. Worldwide demand for health workers will continue to grow until the next decade. Philippines is the number one exporter of nurses to the world and the second major exporters of doctors. This has seriously undermined the nation's capability to provide health services to its people. More and more doctors are leaving the country as nurses, and some hospitals especially in provinces were forced to stop due to lack of qualified health workers. ... Severe

Manila Times, March 14, 2007 Dr. Dante Ang, chairman of the Commission on the Filipino Overseas, on Tuesday appealed to nursing institutions in the Philippines not to challenge the decision of the American Nursing Association urging the June 2006 nurses to retake the entire licensure exam and not just portions of it. He warned that ANA is a very powerful lobby group in the United States with a membership of 2.9 million (sic) and vast resources. He said although ANA is not empowered to craft laws involving nursing profession, the association wields considerable influence among US legislators. Ang said that in order not to complicate the issue of whether to retake just Tests 3 and 5 of the board exam or the entire test government officials must handle the matter diplomatically. ... Let

KMU, February 27, 2007 The decision of the CGFNS to disallow visa application for June 2006 Nursing Board Exam can only be blamed squarely on the government’s tolerance on the masterminds of the test leakage. There was indeed no closure, only cover-up.” This was the reaction of Elmer “Ka Bong” Labog on the ongoing problems the nurses are facing as the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS), a US government agency handling the entry of foreign nurses, declared a ban for nurses who took the June 2006 exams. “Despite the public outrage about the leakage, no one was made accountable and everything was just swept under the rug. The R.A.Gapuz Review Center which according to witnesses was in the center of the leakage was not investigated, along with the rest of the 19 individuals who were implicated as culprits of the leakage,” said Labog. ... Filipino

Asian Journal, February 19, 2007 Manila - The top official of the Philippine Nursing Association (PNA) has called on all Filipino nurses and their organizations to unite in facing the crisis resulting from a United States board decision not to clear June 2006 Filipino nursing license passers for US visas. "We want to hurdle it as one nursing profession," Dr. Leah Paquiz, PNA president, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a phone interview on Sunday. Paquiz was referring to the decision announced last week by the US-based Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) to deny VisaScreen Certificates to the passers of the controversial June 2006 board exams. ... Nurses

Radio New Zealand International, February 9, 2007
Officials from American Samoa’s LBJ hospital are going to the Philippines in a bid to recruit nurses to alleviate a chronic nursing shortage at the hospital. The chairman of the hospital board, Charles Warren, says the shortage means many nurses are required to work very long shifts on a continuous basis. He says the same shortage exists in the United States so many hospitals are recruiting in places like India and the Philippines which are seen as sources of well trained nurses. The LBJ CEO Kirk Gray and the director of nursing, Toaga Seumalo, will head the privately paid trip to Manila. © RNZI 2004

Rizalene P. Acac, Global Nation, January 24, 2007 Davao City - Advocates of the licensed practical nurses or LPNs in the city are pushing for the accreditation of their course and its inclusion in the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002. Arturo Lacuesta, founder and chair of the Philippine Paramedical and Technical School (PPTS), said they were lobbying before the city government and other government agencies such as Department of Trade and Industry and the Technical Education Skills and Development Authority to recognize the profession in the medical field. Lacuesta said his school had been producing practical but graduates were not allowed to practice here, although they were in demand in the United States. ... Licensed

Ministry tells firms not to undercut as in other professions. Japan Times, January 18, 2007 A draft government guideline for employers hiring nurses and caregivers from the Philippines says they should be paid the same as their Japanese colleagues, according to labor ministry officials. Japan is to accept up to 400 nurses and 600 caregivers from the Philippines between fiscal 2007 and 2008 under a free-trade agreement signed in September. The guideline drafted by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry is aimed at preventing the Filipinos from having to work under unfair labor conditions, officials said. ... Fair

Ernesto Herrera, ABS CBN News, January 15, 2007 Filipino nurses can look forward to greater overseas employment opportunities in the months ahead with the recent affirmation of a new agreement liberalizing the trade in professional nursing services within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Our nurses can now count on easier access to the lucrative job markets of Asean members since the Mutual Recognition Agreement on Nursing Services has been affirmed in the 12th Asean Summit and would soon be implemented by member-countries. ... More

Manila Times Editorial, January 9, 2007 It is very good news that Filipino nurses have started working in Japan. There are only 15 Filipinos working in Tokyo but their entry in the hermetically sealed labor market is a breakthrough. Consider it a foot in the door, and the door shall surely open wider. Japan has been a tough market to crack for Filipino professionals because of stringent immigration laws. But behind the stern immigration policy is a culture of xenophobia that eyes foreigners with suspicion and that seek to protect Japanese identity and culture. ... Our