A news report last week had it that there is now an oversupply of nurses in the country. Philippine Nursing Association officials attributed this problem to what it called the "commercialization" of nursing and the promotion of practical nursing course in the country.
The report also stated that jobs available for Filipino nurses overseas have become scarce, largely due to changes of policy in destination-countries and, of course, the quality problems. This resulted to a situation in which thousands of licensed nurses would end up being underemployed or are forced to toil for a living beyond the walls of their profession.
Amid this gloomy future to which our nurses headed, the government should take immediate action to solve the problems presently besetting the nursing profession. There are countless defects lying even from the very foundation of that profession that need serious attention.
Four decades the Philippines has been producing nurses of top caliber. They become the favorite choice of countries around the world not only for their dedication to the profession, but for yielding effective results that brought endless satisfaction to their employers.
But nowadays, concerns have been raised over the low quality of nurses that the country is now producing. And there have been a lot of questions about the competence of our new nurses.
What is more serious is that some of the country's top nursing officials have even involved in controversy after controversy. We are certain that the leakage controversy exploded two years ago will continue to be an irremovable scar in the face of the once proud profession.
Some of the problems suffered by the nursing profession of late have been attributed to the sprouting of hundreds of unregulated nursing schools across the country. It is probably only in the Philippines where even computer schools were being granted license to teach nursing.
For Filipino nurses decades ago, being a nurse is not just shown in a laminated piece of document hanging in the living room, but in having what it takes to be competent enough in the intricate business of health care service.