Juguilon, Rissa M. Bsn4b Essay

JUGUILON, RISSA M
BSN-4B
Inmate
According to the Medical Information Research Information Center Global (MRICG), the
Philippines has an annual production of about 38,000 nurses, despite having this many nurses
every year we are having a shortage of nurses in our country, but why are we having a shortage
of nurses anyway?, first let us start with the existing problems before the Pandemic strikes, The
first one is being Overworked and being Underpaid, Nurses do not exactly clock-off after their
shifts, on a typical day, they work beyond their working hours endorsing all their patients to the
next shift without getting paid for their one or two hour overtime service. On some days, nurses
have been known to work 16 hours straight due to the unexpected absence of a colleague.
another thing is being Underpaid, let’s be honest despite all the hard works our nurses were put
through their salary barely makes up for it, considering they save lives, it is sad to think about it
how poorly most of our nurses being compensated in our country, and According to the
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the average salary of a nurse working in a
Government sector is around 13,500 pesos while private sector rates on an average of 10,000
pesos per month, compared to other public servants in the country like teachers and police
officers who are now enjoying a fairly good compensation, nurses are still getting exploited or
compensated poorly at best.
When the pandemic hits our country the situation of our nurses has gotten even worse, whilst
many of us treat and calls them heroes, still some of our nurses faces discrimination outside of
their workplace painting them as infected and avoiding them another one is the lack of support
and attention from our Government when the first wave of Pandemic strikes our hospitals,
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is scarce due to the lack of funding and unpreparedness of
many hospitals and most of our nurses especially those who work in a Covid ward asks for PPE
and N95 mask donation and through the help of Non-Profit Organizations (NGO) even though
they managed to accumulate PPEs and other Essential needs it took a few weeks for them to be
delivered especially in remote places so many of our nurses who are immediately needed use
their own pockets to buy their own Personal Protective Equipment, now the risk doubles as the
overworked nurses are fighting the Corona Virus in the frontline with little to no Protection
while our Government officials hide in their Mansions sipping wine and others were Organizing
Birthday Parties amidst Covid.
Though last year, Philippine government has imposed a special risk allowance and active hazard
pay to compensate health workers for their hard work and sacrifice. However, this has been
continuously delayed, according to Ma. Maristela P. Abenojar, president of Filipino Nurses
United (FNU). The starting wage of Salary Grade 15, or 32,000 pesos, has also been unevenly
implemented.
Now that we know the background and current situation of our nurses let’s proceed to answer the
question of why we are having a shortage of nurses in our country, Due to low income, poor
working conditions, and other problems, many of our nurses go overseas to North America or the
Middle East to find jobs with higher pay and especially now certain industries and nations
abroad contribute to the export of labor. Employers around the world compete for educated
workers fluent in English.
About 20 percent of registered nurses in California are from the Philippines, and demand for
Filipino nurses may rise as the United Kingdom pursues Brexit and anticipates replacing 12
percent of its non-British medical staff at the National Health Service.
The Philippine setup for nurses couldn’t get any worse, especially now as doctor and nurse
shaming become more common. Many nurses fail not because our nurses back home are
incompetent, but because the environment that our healthcare system has laid out isn’t exactly
ideal for patient care. No wonder many resorts to looking on working abroad to sought
improvement to their employment prospects.
Sources/Citations
Adrian, M. (2020, April 16). This Is Why Nurses Are Leaving The Country
https://www.imoney.ph/articles/nurse-salary-philippines-abroad/
Lacsamana, B. (2021, June 2). Filipino nurses continue to endure at the frontlines
https://www.bworldonline.com/filipino-nurses-continue-to-endure-at-the-frontlines-2/
Chia and Tolentino (2021) Underpaid and overworked, Philippine nurses would rather
walk away than work at home
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/cnainsider/underpaid-overworked-philippines-nurses-
hospitals-shortage-covid-1882796
Filipinos Abroad
https://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/heroes-republic-filipinos-abroad

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