Statement - Arroyo government is tailoring nursing sector to US demands

The decision of the Arroyo government to provide a retake of the leakage-marred June 2006 nursing licensure exam for nursing graduates who want to work in the United States is a sign that our government is promoting the brain drain of our nurses instead of addressing the reasons why they leave in the first place.

We in the Visayas Primary Health Care Services, Inc. (VPHCS), a non-government organization, believes that the executive order signed by Arroyo last March is also an ominous sign that the government is tailor-fitting the country''s nursing sector to the demands of the US market for nurses.

Our government is doing its best to let our nurses gain entry and work in the States, instead of addressing the mass exodus of nurses which is detrimental to our health system and the reasons why they leave in the first place. This is labor export of our nurses abroad and with the way our government is so anxious to have the nurses secure visas in the US, it seems that our whole nursing sector is now being tailor-fit to the needs of America and no longer for our own people''s health.

The US Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) had earlier announced that the passers of the June 2006 nursing board examinations who intend to apply for VisaScreen Certificates should undergo a retake equivalent of Tests 3 and 5 - the portions of the nursing board examination affected by last year''s leakage scandal, and obtain a passing score.

The CGFNS had decided that a VisaScreen Certificate may not be issued to passers of the June 2006 nursing licensure exam since their licenses were "not comparable to a US nursing license." The Certificate is required of all foreign-national nurses who seek occupational visas under US immigration law - regardless of which State in the United States that they intend to practice.

The CGFNS explicitly said that applicants would not be eligible for the said visa certificate unless they comply with the retest order.

It is pointed out that while the Philippines has become the world''s number one exporter of nurses and the number two exporter of doctors (next to India), the country is in dire need of them. Many district and provincial hospitals nationwide have lost their doctors and nurses to greener pastures abroad while many rural and mountain barangays are deprived of these health professionals to render basic health services.

It is clear that the government has failed to address the causes of the brain drain, particularly poor salaries of public health workers. A rural health physician receives a monthly basic pay of P 20,020; a resident physician in a government hospital, P15, 841; a public health nurse, P 12,546; a ward nurse, P 9,939; a nursing attendant, P 6,522.00.

Moreover, many benefits mandated by the Magna Carta of Public Health Workers (Republic Act. 7305) have not been implemented, including hazard pay, longevity pay, on-call pay, overtime pay, night-shift allowance, and salary increase for step increment.

Although increasing the pay of public health workers may not be comparable to what nurses get in the US, it will enable them to cope with the rising cost of living and give due compensation for the public service that they have rendered.

Mark Molina, M.D.
Visayas Primary Health Care Services, Inc.
Unit 4C, CP Center, cor. J. Llorente and G. Garcia Sts.
Cebu City