THE Department of Health (DOH) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) have joined forces in their commitment to better serve Filipino nurses and other healthcare workers.
Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa and CHED chairman Prospero De Vera III signed a joint administrative order (JAO) in a ceremony held in Parañaque City to establish the new implementing guidelines for the Nurse Workforce Complementation and Upskilling Program.
“This program serves as an embodiment of our commitment to all our healthcare workers, especially to our dear nurses, in providing them with the services and benefits that they truly deserve,” Herbosa said.
He assured the public that the DOH prioritizes the welfare of health workers in line with the agency’s eight-point action agenda as they work to achieve Universal Healthcare (UHC) in the country.
The order aims to set the guidelines and mechanisms that will facilitate hiring and upskilling of underboard nursing graduates as Clinical Care Associates (CCAs) in both public and private hospitals as augmentation to the health workforce and in preparation for the Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination (PNLE), according to the DOH.
“This will aid in the further fulfillment of the UHC promise wherein every Filipino’s life is important in the formation of a new Philippines,” Herbosa added.
The alliance between the two agencies was among the many steps to resolve the nurse-related crisis faced by the Health Department.
Herbosa earlier proposed the hiring of unlicensed nurses as a temporary measure to address the nurse shortage problem in the country, adding that only graduates who scored 70 to 74 percent in the licensure exams would qualify under the setup.
For his part, De Vera said CHED would see to the direct hiring of nursing graduates, especially those with exit credentials, in privately owned healthcare facilities.
The DOH has reported that more than half of Filipino nurses, estimated at some 316,400 have migrated to other countries.
Meanwhile, 175,900 nurses currently serve in the private and public health institutions within the country, 19 percent of whom were underemployed, unemployed or working in other sectors such as business or information technology.