MANILA, Philippines – Some 58,000 applicants are vying for the 10,000 nursing jobs offered by the Department of Health (DOH).
The hired nurses would participate in the government’s Registered Nurses for Health Enhancement and Local Services (RN HEALS) program created to extend government health services to poor communities with limited access to healthcare.
The deadline for application was last Friday.Health Secretary Enrique Ona has identified 1,221 rural areas where the hired nurses would be deployed.
They will receive a monthly allowance of P8,000 from the national government and P2,000 from the local government unit they are serving.
Ona said there has been an oversupply of Filipino nurses but government hospitals cannot hire them – even if these are in need of additional nurses – because of budget constraints.