DOLE to limit deployment of nurses abroad

THE DEPARTMENT of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said it is planning to slow down the deployment of nurses abroad due to shortage of medical professionals in the country.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello said many government and private hospitals have inadequate number of nurses and that is why they have to decrease the deployment of medical professionals. “There could be a slowdown in the deployment of nurses because we also need our nurses, especially senior citizens,” he said.

DOLE has already slowed down deployment of construction workers overseas because of similar problems. “We slowed down the deployment of construction workers earlier. Now, we want to include our nurses,” he said.

Many nurses work abroad because of the high salaries. Nurses working in Saudi Arabia earn as much as P90,000 a month while those in the United States or United Kingdom can earn as high as P200,000 a month compared to those working at government or private hospital back home who only earns less than P20,000 a month. Filipino nurses are in demand in countries in Europe, the Middle East, among others.

Bello noted that he is contemplating on the plan after a dialogue with the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA), who sought his assistance to address the shortage of nurses in the country. “All the while, I thought there is an oversupply of nurses. But I just learned that those graduating with nursing degrees and have passed the Board only train for two years and will go work abroad,” he said.

Bello said the government should do something and increasing the salaries of nurses for them to stay and work in the country. “In order for them to not want to work abroad and just stay here, we should also consider increasing their salaries. And the President appears amenable to giving them that,” he said.

He said the salary increase for nurses would be discussed with the Department of Budget and Management. Early this year, the government has implemented a slowdown in sending construction workers to other countries, by as much as 90 percent due to the reported manpower shortage in the local construction industry stemming from the “Build, Build, Build” program in 75 projects.

Under the program, the government is set to construct roads, bridges, airport, railways among others, covering 2017 to 2022, with a total budget of P8 trillion. But many Chinese contractors for these projects are using Chinese workers. (Ferdinand Patinio. With a report from the Mindanao Examiner.)

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