Among the CHED’s technical group’s recommendations is to produce quality nursing graduates that caters to the needs of the country rather than going abroad. Six out of 10 nurses leave the country every year, she said, causing the delay on specialized procedures. In this case, she said they need to develop nurses on the specialized cases which derail the fast delivery of health care services.

Service to the needy

Dr. Ana Marie Leung reacted on the problems confronting the health care system raising the call to re-orient nursing education to the original call of service to the most needy. Leung, a UP Manila graduate, is the director of the Community Health Education, Services and Training in the Cordillera Region (CHESTCORE), has for decades been rendering health services to far-flung communities in the region and Ilocos.

Supporting the move for an independent fact finding body on the leakage, Leung agreed that the health care system in the Philippines must adopt changes particularly on addressing the health needs of the people.

“Instead of strengthening the public health care system, the government promotes a labor export policy which includes our nurses. An estimated 85% (about 150,000) of employed Filipino nurses are working abroad. The 50,000 nurses who left in the past four years have far exceeded the graduates of 20,000 during that same period. It is even estimated that 80% of public health physicians have taken up or enrolled in nursing,” Leung said.

Leung hit the government and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration saying they are more concerned about the effects of this nursing board examination scam on the reputation of the graduates abroad, including the Philippine bid to have a local National Council Licensure Examination for Nurses (NCLEX) for them to work in the United States.

Seeking to get the reactions from the health sector, including students on how they will address the leakage scam, the forum was organized by the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) chapters in Baguio and the Cordillera and the Cordillera Associations of Deans of the Philippines Colleges of Nursing. Nordis / Bulatlat

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