Nursing crisis is here and getting worse
IT is alarming when a developed country is offering thousands of scholarships to Filipino nursing students so they can immediately migrate to work after passing the nurses Licensure Examination. Worse is when developed countries are actively recruiting nursing students to pursue and finish their nursing education in a host country, which ensures the supply of nursing human resource. Who would refuse scholarships? Who would not want to obtain a college diploma in a developed country?
Worst of all is the fact that all of these are happening at a time when even the highest paying government specialty hospitals are having high attrition rates ranging from 16 to 27 percent due to nurses’ migration. The private hospitals are trying their best compete but can hardly match the law-mandated salaries and benefits in government hospitals. Moreover, nurses’ salary in pesos can’t compare with the offers of developed countries, especially when converted to Philippine currency.
The Filipino nurses are the best for the Filipinos and the choice of the world, as envisioned in the Philippine Nursing Roadmap.
The nursing shortage
BASED on the WHO’S state of the World’s Nursing Report in 2020, the world will be short of 5.6 million nurses by 2030. The pandemic increased the health care demand and added strain on the human resource supply.
The recent DOH report said that the Philippines is short of 92,000 physicians and 44,000 nurses.
But for the past 20 years, the Professional Regulation Commission has registered 606,428 nurses and 55,783 physicians. Prior to the pandemic, an average of 30,000 nurses are registered a year for the past 20 years, and there seems to be no reason for the country to have scarcity of nurses, if only we give our Filipino nurses reasons to stay in nursing and in the country.
All these reveal that the problem is not really a shortage of nurses. On the contrary, we have a surplus of competent nurses. What we lack is societal compassion and the initiative to pay attention to healthcare workers’ needs and provide immediate sustainable solutions.
Migration is nurses’ right
THERE were issues during the pandemic about the migration cap that government imposed. But nurses have the right to pursue professional achievement through career mobility and to better the circumstances in which they live and work. Migration of nurses offers potential beneficial outcomes, including multicultural practice and enhanced learning opportunities.
However, a range of ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors exist that lead nurses to seek employment outside of their country of origin. examples of push factors include low pay, pay discrimination, poorly funded health systems and unfavorable working conditions. Destination countries often have pull factors, such as better salaries and conditions of employment, and career development opportunities.
Ethics in international migration
All these reveal that the problem is not really a shortage of nurses. On the contrary, we have a surplus of competent nurses. What we lack is societal compassion and the initiative to pay attention to healthcare workers’ needs and provide immediate sustainable solutions.
THE WHO notes that the imbalances in funding between rich and poor countries means there is an increased risk of unscrupulous international recruitment that fails to adhere to ethical principles and leaves vulnerable health systems stripped of their most valuable asset, qualified nurses. It is crucial that all countries train and retain more of their own nurses and implement ethical recruitment practices when they employ nurses from overseas.
The WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel establishes and promotes voluntary principles and practices for the ethical international recruitment of health personnel and the strengthening of health systems, including effective health workforce planning, education and retention strategies. As highlighted in the Code, the goal for all countries should be to have a sustainable national nursing workforce that focuses on a stable core of domestically educated nurses, while acknowledging and enabling the contribution of Iens and other health professionals.
The International Council of Nurses, in its position paper, condemns the targeted recruitment of nurses from countries or areas within countries that are experiencing a chronic shortage of nurses and/or a temporary health crisis in which nurses are needed. It acknowledges the adverse effects that international