PNA looking into apprenticeship proposal for Filipino nurses

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) on Thursday said it is still looking into the possibility of employing Filipino nurses as interns in hospitals locally and abroad. In an interview with GMANews.TV on Thursday, PNA Chairperson Ruth Tingda said they still have an ongoing nationwide survey to determine whether or not nurses and hospitals support the apprenticeship proposal. She said they are also conducting focused group discussions to get more comprehensive comments and suggestions. Tingda said PNA’s next meeting is scheduled this month but she is not optimistic that the study would be finished by that time. “It (the survey) is not easily done," she said. The Federated Association of Manpower Exporters (Fame), an umbrella organization of recruitment agencies, earlier asked the government to allow the apprenticeship program especially in Singapore and Saudi Arabia to address the unemployment of licensed Filipino nurses. Jackson Gan, Fame vice president, said the program would provide a two-year work experience in big hospitals that nurses need to gain employment. Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) Administrator Jennifer Manalili has said the proposal is something that should be looked into. “We have to admit that 400,000 of our nurses are unemployed because they don’t qualify for the countries that are requiring nurses," said Manalili in a recent interview. She agreed with Fame leaders that it is not the sudden surge in the number of nurses that is plaguing the industry but the lack of qualified nurses who can work abroad. “It’s not that we lack jobs to send them to, we just lack qualified people." Manalili said the two-year experience requirement prevents many hospitals abroad from hiring Filipino nurses. More than 28,000 examinees passed the nursing licensure exam last June, most of whom are expected to remain unemployed for some time due to lack of good job opportunities. Officials have attributed the increasing number of unemployed nurses to a slowdown in hiring of foreign nurses in the United States and United Kingdom since 2006.- GMANews.TV