'Fewer nurses going to US'

MANILA, Philippines - Fewer Filipino nurses are seeking employment in the United States, the country’s largest trade union reported yesterday.

Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said the number of Filipino nurses who took the US Nursing Licensure Examination has plunged.

This year, from January to September, only 11,854 Pinoy nurses took the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX), compared to the 15,079 nurses who took the test in the same period in 2008, said TUCP secretary- general and former senator Ernesto Herrera.

From July to September of this year alone, Herrera said only 3,582 Filipino nurses took the NCLEX for the first time, down by 1,660 from the 5,242 that took the test in the same quarter last year.

Although an NCLEX testing center was established in Manila to make it easier for nurses to take the exams, there was still a sharp decline in the number of Filipino nurses who want to take the NCLEX.

Herrera said the recession in the US might have discouraged nurses from applying there.

“The confidence of foreign workers in America’s economic supremacy has clearly been shaken by the staggering job losses there,” Herrera said.

Herrera noted that 7.6 million Americans have lost their jobs since the start of the US recession in December 2007. The number of unemployed Americans has doubled to 15.1 million, with the national jobless rate at 9.8 percent, said the US Department of Labor.

But Herrera said Filipinos still account for four out of every 10 foreign nurses seeking to enter the US nursing profession.

For 2008, a total of 20,746 Filipino nurses took the NCLEX for the first time, a 3.5- percent decrease from the   21,299 Filipino nurses who took the test in 2007.