Cayetano: Alleged Exploitation of Nurses

Exploited Nurse (Joking, it's me of course)

 Here is the latest update for the benefit of the nurses. What Senator Pia claims regarding exploitation of nurses are all true, i could testify for that, since i am a nurse and everything were so true. What is another unfair scenario happening in the Philippines is that why medical students who are not yet registered doctors are given salaries or shall i say honorarium for their allowances, while student nurses are not or just the registered nurses who are rendering service to the hospital for heaven's sake. The government hospitals would always say that there is an allotted budget for the nurse trainee or volunteer, BUT since there is no enough budget from the government, they were not able to give this allowance for the nurses (such a lame reason).

Another thing is that, our Labor code and the Philippine Act for Nurses are not that very firm and clear as to the protection against exploitation of nurses in the country. The hospital would rather hire new registered nurses without pay and let them work as staff nurses for them to save money from it and worst of all which is really happening is that they are collecting money for this newly registered nurses who wanted to render or practice as a nurse in their institution. In the city where i live, all of the hospitals which are private are collecting fees from Php 2000.00 to Php 6000.00; while in public hospital you are only need to have all your physical exams inside the laboratory of their institutions, which are not very dare but the length of service is very tiring, especially if you need to work 40 hours a day without work, and all expenses are from your pocket or from your parents. We thought nursing as a profession is great, i admit it is, but here in our country it is the worst profession you could ever have. That is why there is no reason for nurses to stay here in the Philippines, since the government are very reluctant to help, only few officials from the government are very willing to help and one of them is Senator Pia Cayetano.

Here is an article below, please read

By HANNAH L. TORREGOZA

September 17, 2010, 5:34pm

MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Pilar Juliana “Pia” Cayetano has filed a resolution calling for an investigation into the alleged “exploitative” practices employed by some hospitals regarding the hiring of registered nurses and nursing graduates.
Cayetano, head of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, said the Senate should look into the reported plight of many Filipino nurses in the country who get hired by hospitals as “on-the-job” trainees instead of being employed as regular nurses.
Worse, the senator said in her Senate Resolution No. 166, these hospitals are allegedly charging the nurses additional fees for training work experience and certification.
She said that despite the claim of University of the Philippines (UP) College of Nursing Dean Dr. Josefina Tuazon and Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) president Dr. Teresita I. Barcelo that there is an oversupply of nurses in the country, many hospitals in the country are still understaffed and do not meet the required nurse to patient ratio especially in far flung areas.
Cayetano said this can be attributed to the fact that the plantilla of a lot of public hospitals are outdated and can no longer service the needs of our people.
In her resolution, Cayetano said “nurses need to comply with a required minimum 2-year work experience for employment abroad and to obtain the required certification and as such, are constrained to work as OJTs in hospitals even without pay – or with salaries below the minimum wage.”

This is my “Story” © 2010 J.J.L.C (previously known as C.GT)