434 finish DOLE's Project NARS

CEBU, Philippines - As part of the Economic Resiliency Program and address the glut in inexperienced nurses, 434 Nurses Assigned in Rural Service (NARS) received their Certificate of Completion during the culminating ceremony yesterday at JSU-PSU Mariners’ Court ALU Compound, Pier I Cebu City.

Project Nurses Assigned in Rural Service (NARS) is a structured competency development programmed designed to train and mobilize unemployed and inexperience registered nurses to around ninety (90) poorest municipalities in Region 7 and improve the clinical and healthcare service.

DOLE-7 director Elias A. Cayanong said the Project NARS increased nurses’ employability opportunities and improved the delivery of rural heath care services.

The second batch of nurses included roving in district schools pursuant to the derivative project entitled Nurses Assigned in Rural Schools.

The nurses conducted preventive and remedial measures for those in school such as health and nutrition assessments, deworming activities, hearing and vision tests, first aid treatments and training students in personal hygiene, nutrition and sanitation.

An average of 5 nurses per town and will be given a stipend or allowance of P8,000 monthly or about P366 per day for a forty hours training/ work week good for six months.

About P20 million were paid by the Department of Labor and Employment in Region 7 for the said stipend or allowance of nurses.

Completion of the training program shall be considered as a substitute for the work experience requirement of hospitals and other health facilities thereby qualifying 434 nurse trainees for employment.

The program is implemented by the DOLE with the Professional Regulatory Commission, Department of Health and the Department of Education.

The new nurses shared that the project is a good experience for them as they learned a lot from it, aside from the fact that they are getting allowances from joining it. They also believe that the diploma that they earn from the program will help them when they apply for a job abroad. — Johanna T. Natavio, Dorothy Mae Acabo and Sheila Marie Catacutan, Negros Oriental State University interns/WAB (FREEMAN NEWS)