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If you’re a Registered Nurse here in the Philippines, what will make you stay in our country?

a. A satisfying job with many benefits.

b. Opportunities for continiuing professional education.

c. Being with your family.

d. Receiving low salary with few vacation leaves & other benefits.

I’m sure no one will pick the last option, who’s damn fool to want that! But stop dreaming. The last option is what is reality for Filipino nurses who are working here in the Philippines, specially those who work in private hospitals.

Working in a hospital is fun and exciting. Day by day you meet new challenges, chances to prove your critical thinking and application of what you learned in college. I admit that working in a hospital could be a dirty job but it is one of the most dignified work because it is a very passionate deed… imagine, working with sick people doing all means to treat them and if recovery is no longer possible giving them a dignified life till the end.

I have learned plenty of things during my past three months working as a nurse. The experiences I had can never be taught even by the best nursing textbook. Doing the things in the actual way is very far from the imagined "ideals" in nursing. If you are bookish and traditional you will be left over by the fast pace of work in the hospital, specially in the Intensive Care Unit and Emergency Room. Transporting a patient through an ambulance is a very exciting thing a nurse can do… providing life-saving nursing care while on the go. Other things I learned in my job is how to deal with different people. All patients are unique and you must be sensitive to their cultural norms. Here I learned how to apply the principles of transcultural nursing. Being competent in your job is a key to become a successful nurse.

I love to work as a nurse here in the Philippines because I can serve my country. But why am I taking foreign exams and applying for job abroad like many other nurses do? The answer is obvious if you’re here in the Philippines… nurses here are very underprivileged.

a. Low pay or NO pay

b. Working more than 48 hours a week without overtime pay.

c. Attending seminars at your own cost (no hospital sponsorship)

d. Less benefits and lack of hospital supplies

These are the problems Filipino nurses face day by day here in our country. Are they inhuman? Maybe yes!

What’s the purpose of the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002 (RA 9173)?

It’s just a decoration in the local politics. Actually sometimes it serves as a tool against nurses. Let’s accept the truth… taking up BS Nursing in a prestigious university spending half a million pesos and passing the local board exam is worthless if you render professional service here. "Go abroad to compensate your loss" is the common motto of Filipino nurses. Poor nurses. When can we seek the chance to get rich in our homeland? The answer… NEVER. Filipinos are so democrat, they don’t want to be included among the wealthy 50+ states of USA. I salute Jose Rizal, the national hero, because he wanted our country to be legally recognised as a province of Spain. His ideology is not understood by most Filipinos at all (Why  can’t Filipinos accept they have Hispanic blood at all, so odd denial). If his strategy became succesful maybe by now we are earning euros in our own country.

Why are ther so many nurses and nursing students nowadays?

Correct! They want to go abroad to earn money and invest here in the Philippines.