Senator Francis Tolentino urged the new leadership of the Department of Health (DOH) to lay down fresh innovations that would encourage Filipino nurses to remain in the country.
He also asked the newly-appointed DOH Sec. Teodoro Herbosa to come up with plans to entice nurses to remain in the Philippines.
According to Tolentino, the main problem hounding Filipino nurses has always been the issue of their compensation, whether they are working in the government or private medical facilities.
Tolentino said there is a wide gap between the salaries of nurses in the Philippines and those in medical facilities overseas.
“And that’s why most of them have no choice but to seek greener pastures abroad or, worse, seek a different career path,” he said.
Herbosa for his part agreed with Tolentino’s observation, saying that he is currently in talks with the Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) to somehow relax the licensing rules to allow the employment of nurses in government health facilities, especially fresh graduates.
Herbosa said the problem is that the country’s civil service guidelines allow only licensed nurses to work in the health sector in the government.
Herbosa said he already talked to the PRC to give temporary licenses for three years to nursing graduates to entice them to work in the government.
“We start with the government first since it will be difficult if we extend to the private sector,” the DOH chief said.
In October,Tolentino filed Senate Bill No. 1447 or the proposed “Philippine Nursing Practice Act of 2022.”
The proposed legislation aims to increase the ranks of better-trained, better-compensated, and better-appreciated nurses.
The senator noted that providing local nurses with better compensation and training will play a vital role in achieving a more efficient access to Universal Health Care for every Filipino.