House Social Services Committee chairperson Ria Vergara on Tuesday known as for a probe on the follow of hiring nurses on short-term contracts and different delayed compensation preparations for nurses.
Vergara made the response when requested about what can be the suitable authorities motion on the Professional Regulation Commission’s (PRC) revelation in a Senate listening to that solely 59% of docs and 53% of nurses within the nation had been practising their professions.
“The data you mentioned is very revealing. We must investigate the practice of ‘contractual nurses’ and delayed payments, as well as amend Republic Act 9173 or the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002 to explore a wage and benefits board that will include stakeholders in determining the proper wage and benefits of nurses,” Vergara informed GMA News Online.
“We should also explore bilateral or multilateral investment schemes with countries that recruit nurses from the country to alleviate the shortage issue brought about by their recruitment methods, as well as reintegration programs which include healthcare benefits,” Vergara added.
The switch of expertise, Vergara mentioned, must also be given precedence, in order that nurses who return to the nation from overseas could impart and enhance the nurses’ pool left within the nation.
“While we have a good healthcare educational system as evidenced by the number of foreign medical students enrolling, we are not able to translate them into healthcare workers in the country. The recent trend of offering packages for nursing students by foreign firms is greatly affecting the data mentioned,” Vergara mentioned.
“With this kind of competition, the government alone cannot solve this. You need to balance the state interest of having adequate healthcare professionals in the country and the quality of life of our nurses and doctors,” Vergara added. — DVM, GMA Integrated News
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
