Romulo advises unemployed nurses to consider BPO jobs

MANILA — Nurses still looking for opportunities to gainfully practice their profession should consider applying for well- paying clinical service and medical coding jobs in the business process outsourcing sector, Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo said in a news release Sunday.

“We have a growing number of BPO companies here, particularly those servicing the US healthcare industry, that are recruiting nurses for local employment,” said Romulo, chairman of the House committee on higher and technical education.

“We are hopeful that these job openings will somewhat help ease joblessness among nurses,” Romulo said.

Unemployment remains high among nurses, mainly because the country continues to produce a large surplus of them. This year alone, the Professional Regulatory Commission issued licenses to 22,222 new registered nurses.

“These outsourcing jobs for nurses require strong communication as well as analytical skills, and the readiness to work in shifts,” said Romulo, a key backer of the booming BPO industry.

Romulo said Teaneck, New Jersey-based Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. is signing up “nursing associates” to build up its global clinical services.

Cognizant has five offices in the cities of Pasig, Taguig, Makati, and Cebu.

Makati-based VMCO Corp., a subsidiary of Visaya Knowledge Process Outsourcing Corp., is also enlisting nursing graduates as well as registered nurses for medical coding jobs, according to Romulo.

Medical coders review and analyze in detail the medical records of hospitals, physicians, and diagnostic centers, and list out all findings and treatments, including procedures performed.

They then convert the records into international medical codes, making it easier for healthcare providers in America to electronically manage and access their data.