DOH advises students: Don't take up nursing

What do you think of this? http://www.thepoc.net/breaking-news/...d-nursing.html

Stay out of nursing – this was the advice of Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Enrique Ona to incoming college students, saying if he had a daughter today, he would not let her take up the said course.

He said during a consultation that 200,000 nurses are in need of jobs here and abroad. He added that some nursing schools are closing because of “a govenment-mandated review of their quality of instruction.”

With the records, Ona said there is a decline in the demand for Filipino nurses abroad while the number of graduating nurses “has been disproportionately high.”

“We have to be strict in the licensing of nursing schools. Second, we have to give our students better opportunities and inform them about courses with better employment chances,” he explained.

Ona suggested that students who want to pursue a career in health care may take up highly-specialized courses in medical research and medical technology.

The Health Secretary exemplified medical technology specializing in stem research which he said is in very high demand.

Ona added that many parents still think that having high-paying jobs abroad would be possible by earning a nursing degree.

“Filipinos should now start thinking out of the box and explore other lucrative careers which complement current advances in technology,” Ona emphasized.

Students may consider science and environment-related courses “while waiting for the demand to grow”, he noted. Non-traditional niche jobs, such as weather forecasters and air controllers are in demand, Ona stressed.

There has been a decline in nursing demand in countries like the United Kingdom and United States since 2006, brought about by the global financial crisis.

Early this year, the Health department said that it would train 10,000 nurses for deployment to depressed areas of the country as part of the Registered Nurses for Health Enhancement and Local Service (RH Heals) project. In coordination with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), they will be providing health care to poor and rural communities and jobs for unemployed nurses.

An entry from a Nurses blogsite said: “It is noble to render one's services to his/her own country, but if we're talking about survival, it makes the entire topic different. This is what happened to the nursing industry here in the Philippines: after passing the board exam, [nurses work for] experience for a while then...fly to another country.”

Another entry from the said blog site inquired: “What I could not understand is that, there are so many nurses in the country but why in the world could the government not hire more nurses to [equalize] the nurse-patient ratio?”

Find it interesting how the one blogger refers to the "nursing industry". That is hitting the nail on the head.

Interesting. Ona cites the reduction in demand for nursing as having to do with finances, not medical need. We don't have enough nurses and healthcare facilities to meet current needs, forget about the future. Hospitals in my area are at peak census and oddly enough, there are still no nursing positions posted. Why? Because the healthcare industry can still whine about reduced reimbursement and loss of revenue. Really? My hospital has done two additions within the past 5 years, remodeled three nursing units, the cath lab including a second suite and holding area. Currently we are in the process of adding an entire new wing.

Nurses without jobs? Schools closing because of reduced enrollment? Ridiculous problems to have in light of current "real versus perceived need". Schools falling below standard have to do with poor regulation and closing the doors does not correct the problem. Place blame where it belongs.

Sadly my cynical crystal ball tells me that for the current trend to reverse and nursing jobs to open, more sentinal events related to staffing will have to occur and root cause analyses will indicate that more nurses are needed. Meanwhile, we wait and people suffer.

Mind you, Ricu: This post is in the Phillipine Nurses Forum. The story is not about what's going on in the States.

HOWEVER!!!! You do make valid points. New additions to your facility? Sounds like non-for-profit to me. Local hospital added two OOOG-ly wings to the building; hiring is pretty much nil. What hiring there is, is as-needed.

Remember several years ago there was an influx of Filipino nurses. From what I was told, jobs were scarce, due to the number of nurses graduating.