Philippines nurses

It seems that the government neglected the fact that the nursing schools have become lucrative business for some people. This is also something that people who enrolled and are planning to enroll in the nursing school have overlooked. They seem to be easily deceived by the notion or the promises of better chances abroad that they seem to forget about the reality of oversupply of graduates and opportunistic businessmen who sees the nursing courses as another lucrative venture. The vocation of nursing has been degraded in these times. My grandma who is a nurse in profession used to say that she became a nurse because of altruistic vocation and the love for the profession. Nowadays, one becomes a nurse for the goal of earning much and this temptation of money is a perfect opportunity for greedy schools.

I notice that a lot of Philippino women, and some men, come to my country (the USA) to get nursing degrees. I know that nursing is a great profession, but it seems like everyone wants to be a nurse, and not everyone is cut out for nursing. I have five friends who are all trying to be nurses right now, and it is not as easy as it seems. Doctors are needed more than nurses right now, engineers are needed as well, special education teachers are needed, morticians are needed, dirty jobs such as garbage men, farm workers and jobs like that are all needed right now. People come to America from other countries thinking that nursing is the big thing, but we have plenty of them, so many that some people are on waiting list to get into the nursing programs. My major is English Education, but I am really rethinking my major right now because English teachers are not being highered right now, but special ed teachers are. You have got to go where the need is.

I think it's because there are a lot of students and only a few job opportunities. There are nursing graduates every year while an employed nurse works for maybe 20 years. Just think about that ratio. Where are we going to put the other graduates then? And besides, most of them are so picky. I know someone who doesn't like to work long hours and graveyard shifts, but complain of such low salaries. In short words, he wants a job that wouldn't be tiring, yet with big paychecks. Just imagine. I think it's the fault of students. They're not thinking things through. They only think of the what-ifs. That is, if they get a job. They don't think that there are already thousands of registered nurses who can't find a job. There are other courses available that are really in demand these days. They just have to open up their minds to it.

it is so frustating t know...i am a nurse myself yet i dont work as a nurse...the mere reason i sthat there may be jobs available but we have to suffe from over work and less pay...to think about it...wecan get higher pay from non-nursing jobs...awful isnt it? the situation is really serious and i am not very happy about it...some hospitals even let the nurses pay for experience...this is really unfair and i am not happy because of this...they say that there are a lot of job openings in other countries yet wen we apply we cant get visa instantly....we have to spend a lot of money and we have to wait for such a long time...why is it that wen we go somewhere else aside from asia it is so hard but when people from those places come to asia they get the visa a lot easier and faster...doesnt it sound unfair? i hae to sya this but when your a nurse in the philippines you never get enough money and stii get stucked with debts!!!!

Count me in! I just passed the board exam last June and now, i do not know where to start. I tried visiting the NARS program that DOLE gave but it was all just for nurses who live in provinces. Here in Metro Manila, some of my classmates told me that we are required to attend seminars before we get employed. I am having second opinions about it because it will cost me thousands to apply for membership. If only hospitals won't be so demanding, then Filipino nurses might stay here.

It's really frustrating. I passed the board exam June 2008 and now it's been more than a year and still nothing happened. There is really a high rate of unemployment. and yes, many students are still into taking up nursing. Well, I'm not discouraging anyone to take up nursing but i think they should consider the reality of unemployment here in our country. As of now, I really don't know how will I start up with my career. Well, I just hope someone could help me go abroad and find a better opportunity there. Well, to all of us, let's just face reality and hope for the best!

The situation why there are many nursing graduates nowadays is not because our country is not able to accommodate them but the students themselves chose to be in that course for reasons like the demand for it abroad is high. Unfortunately, because of the the enormity of them you could not guarantee the quality of the graduates themselves resulting to over supply of nurses here and since abroad is not as easy as it was before nurses are trapped here or are forced to work in our local hospitals that pay low wages.

my sister too is undergoing job stress in finding right employer and she even passed all the exam recommended for US nurses ranging from Ielts, nclex, Cgfns and to her amazement. The agency where she applies says that nurses recruitment process is stop as the result of recession. She now plan to work in Middle East as the fast way to be get a job and here in the Philippines their is a lot of competition. I think nurses degree are coming to a point of saturation where everybody are taking nurses in the future their will be an over supply and they will no longer be demanding resulting in nurses accepting job out of their specialization..

This I don't really understand. My young cousin who is a newly licensed nurse cannot work in a hospital, to get some experience because his older sister who is also a nurse working in London is petitioning him to work there but he still need to have at least two years experience, so what they do is he applied in a big hospital as trainee and even paid the hospital for his services,one parent I had talked to, said that her daughter nurse was paid lower than minimum salary. Now how can Filipino nurses will stay and work here if this is the kind of attitude they will get from our local hospitals. Even the Phil. Nursing Association is complaining about this kind of practice.

That is really frustrating. There are more number of graduates than jobs created. Some have resorted to call centers. This is the reason why a lot of people are migrating to other countries. That is one evidence how our government's spending have become out of control. Instead of creating jobs, they pocket the money intended for our country.

Its more of a function of supply and demand... We already have so much nurse graduates right now that demand cannot catch up anymore...Many countries are also not accepting nurses right now because of the economic crisis... The government should limit the students taking up nurses.

When I see this post, I remember my sister who took nursing but failed in the board examination. She will be retaking exams again. If the Philippine government cannot provide jobs to thousand of nurses who have licenses, how much more to those who did not even get the license because they were unable to pass the examination. Here in Europe, even if you do not have that license, you can still practice being a nurse. I do not know how possible is that, but I can see that they really work without a degree. Then I can say that it is possible. Keep posting. Happy Mylotting. Have a nice day. Jeff

well, it's because of so-called high demand for nurses that most students think it's a trend now to study as a nurse in order to work abroad. schools only after profit and recognition so that more students will enroll in their school. well, not all of them, some school even coach for cheats regarding the exam, which causes very unfair to hard working students who went hell just to pass the exam....

well thats true and actually the fact.. but we cant avoid it.. and as long as theirs school and hospital, nursing course will remain.. it really depends to them of what path they will choose after graduating and passing board exam.

Hi sirkana15! I believe the rising demand for nurses in other countries in the last 10 years have made this course to become so popular, that even school which are experts in computer courses are offering nursing in their curriculum. This have made every young student to choose nursing as their course in college to have a better chance of working abroad and have a bigger salary. Due to this, the supplies have caught up with the demand (in economic term), where even the local demand had already been filled up which made some nursing graduates to pay the hospital so that they will be employed and gained the necessary experienced to apply in other countries. Even have grown tired of waiting to be called and just shifted from other careers like call center, factory workers, etc. Have a nice day!

the price of education is really expensive here and elsewhere. in fact as we all know. the price of education here is cheaper compared to other countries such as US, Korea, Japan , Singapore and other countries. but the bad part is there is not much available job in our country though unlike in other countries that there are lots of jobs available .

That's really true... almost all of my friends also are unemployed right now...and end up in call centers jobs.....

ya i agree with that, every year nurses are increasing in our country. my friends worked as call center agents because hospitals got lots of requirements. NARS program are only for those remote areas in provinces where there's no electricity and water thats what i heard from a friend. schools should limit enrollees

If you can get available position, are you sure you still want to be a nurse anymore? In China, as far as I know, many nurses quit their jobs and change the career every year,so there aren't enough nurses in hospitals. On the contrast, medical students are overfull. It is much more difficult for medical students to find a position than nurse students do.

Maybe it isn't a bad news that they end up in other jobs if they don't like to be nurses anymore. I was a medical doctor before I have studied abroad. In China, most nurses don't like their job at all because of high working pressure, high risk, night shift and the payment isn't good.Furthermore, some patients and relatives of patients don't respect nurses. The problem is it is not so easy for them to change their career.