MANILA, Philippines ? The labor department has deployed a second batch of 50 nurses in areas badly affected by typhoon Ondoy.

In a statement issued Tuesday, labor department?s Metro Manila regional director Raymundo Agravante said the ?warriors of wellness? were assigned in Marikina, Pasig, Pateros, Taguig, Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Mandaluyong, San Juan, and Pasay.

Under the department?s Nurse Assigned in Rural Service (NARS) Program, the nurses will try to stem ?the surging rise of leptospirosis? and prepare for the ?second wave of A(H1N1) flu virus.?

Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said NARS trainees shall work on a five-nurse team in each critically affected village. He said they are expected to render the three I?s in nursing care: initiate primary health, school nutrition, maternal health programs, and the first line of diagnosis; inform the public on community water sanitation practices and perform health surveillance; and immunize children and mothers.

The program, which is aimed at addressing the glut of untrained but registered nurses, will compensate the nurses P8,000 for a period of six months. The program aims to give them practical experience that will make them more employable here and abroad, as well as help the government achieve the Millennium Development Goal targets.

Jointly implemented by the departments of labor and health and education, and the Professional Regulation Commission?s Board of Nursing, the program is also part of the government?s pump-priming strategy in the face job losses following the global financial meltdown.