Nursing graduates yet to pass board exam, instead of flunkers, to be hired
The Department of Health (DOH) will hire nursing assistants to help address the nurse shortage in government hospitals, but Health Secretary Ted Herbosa said his plan to employ nursing graduates who failed the board exam would not be shelved.
“There has been a similar proposal because they have been studying this problem of how to augment the health human resources. It’s Salary Grade 9, so that’s about P20,000 yung salary per month,” Herbosa said in a GMA News report on Sunday.
“It’s the one being offered as a solution, so I said that’s going to go forward. It will be open to nurses who graduated four years of college but are still awaiting to pass the exams,” he added.
The Filipino Nurses United (FNU) said nursing assistants would be a big help to existing government health workers.
“It is truly hard for nurses if they don’t have nursing aides or nursing assistants,” said FNU secretary general Jocelyn Andamo.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who admitted having a daughter taking a nursing course, previously said Herbosa’s plan is worth examining, especially since government hospitals still lack about 4,000 nurses.
“In other countries, nursing students are given the opportunity to serve even without passing the nursing board exam, as they are given a role under their Universal Health Care system,” Hontiveros said.
“Even if they are not yet registered nurses. We have read about instances where nursing assistants are used… It’s good to study or at least worth a study,” the senator added.
On June 19, Herbosa expressed his plan to take in unlicensed nursing graduates to work for the government, as long as they pass the board exam after a certain period of time.
But the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) said the DOH secretary cannot issue temporary work permits to unlicensed nurses based on the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002.
“Maybe it’s a legal roadblock but I think we can hurdle it through either an amendment in the legislation for a special purpose, the fact that exigency of the situation where we are implementing the Universal Health Care Act and of course we want to implement health for all. We need a lot of nurses to actually provide care,” said Herbosa.
The DOH is also meeting with the PRC and the Department of Labor and Employment to discuss the nursing shortage due to migration.
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III said Herbosa’s plan is only a “short-term” solution.
“The root causes of the shortage lie in the significant number of nurses leaving the country to seek higher-paying jobs abroad. We should take a look at nurses’ salaries and provide more incentives for them to stay and practice in our nation,” Pimentel said.
The opposition lawmaker also believes that barring nursing board exam takers who flunked the test from fully practicing the profession is also one way of protecting not just the importance of the board exam but also the public.
“If they passed, then the examinees are ready and competent. If they flunked, then clearly and surely they are not ready to become nurses. We have to protect the integrity of our testing system. Study and prepare more for the next exam. 75 means 75, not 74.5,” he said.
“Improve the exam, and make sure the questions asked do test the competence and readiness of the nursing examinee. Make the exam direct to the important knowledge and skill set for nurses,” Pimentel said.
Hontiveros said Herbosa should be given the opportunity to fully explain his plan when he faces the Commission on Appointments.
For Sen. Nancy Binay, hearing the concerns of medical frontliners must be the first priority before anything else.
“Before the DOH taps unlicensed or board-eligible nurses as a temporary solution to address the shortage, we should listen first to their sector. We should have a deep and thorough consultation. We should see the DOH lay out a clear and concrete program for the hospitals as far as alleviating the plight of healthcare workers is concerned,” Binay said.
Sen. JV Ejercito is hoping the problem of the supply of nurses and other healthcare workers in the country will be fully addressed “five to ten years from now.”
