MANILA (Xinhua): Hospitals in the Philippines have been authorized to recruit unlicensed nurses to work as "critical care associates" as the country continues to grapple with a shortage of healthcare workers, especially nurses.
Tynna Eunice Pielago, 23, a recent nursing graduate from Cavite Province, southwest of capital Manila, expressed her concerns about the government remedy, which she describes as "a band-aid solution" to the problem.
"This would put healthcare quality at risk and add to the workload of the licensed nurses tasked to supervise the critical care associates," Pielago told Xinhua.
Years of massive migration of Filipino health workers to foreign countries have exacerbated the shortage of workforce in the industry.
The Department of Health estimated a shortage of 114,743 nurses in the Philippines as of December 2022, while the Professional Regulatory Commission noted that only 53.55 percent of registered nurses are active and are practicing in the health sector.
The current administration holds a belief that allowing nursing graduates who have yet to pass the government licensure examination to be hired as assistants is a vital way to boost the depleted healthcare system, local media reported.
"This way, they can get to work immediately," Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos said.
However, Jobie Fuellas, 34, a Filipino nurse since 2010, told Xinhua that "patients might have less trust in critical care associates because they lack accountability due to the absence of a license."
"Holding a license is a fulfillment and entails significant responsibility. Moreover, patients tend to place more trust in you because of the license," Fuellas said.
Since the 1950s, the Philippines has consistently supplied nurses to the developed countries like the United States, Britain, and Canada, among others. Active recruitment in the Middle East also picked up in recent years, which further encouraged the exodus of Filipino health workers.
Philippine Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa has underscored the urgency of addressing the "brain drain" phenomenon.
During a Senate hearing in August, Senator Pia Cayetano also urged the government to address the country's bleeding healthcare system.
"We only talk about the nursing shortage, but we also have a shortage of pharmacists, physical therapists, occupation therapists, everything that makes a health system sustainable," Cayetano said.
Public and private hospitals have committed to hiring "underboard" nursing graduates for one year, with the possibility of renewal twice if they do not pass the licensure examinations.
The government and the hospitals have been collaborating to develop an upskilling program in coordination with higher education institutions to enhance the competencies of nurses.
However, Pielago, who has been studying for the licensure exam, believes that the government must have more basis and concrete research, and listen to the perspectives of nursing leaders.
"Hiring unlicensed nurses may seem like a good idea at first, given that it brings the opportunity to those who haven't passed the licensure exam to practice, but there may be long-term consequences that the government may have overlooked," she said. - Xinhua
