Raise nurses’ entry level pay to keep them from leaving – Pangilinan

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Francis Pangilinan is pushing for the increase in the entry-level salary of government nurses to P30,531 to prevent them from seeking greener pastures overseas.

In a statement on Wednesday, Pangilinan said his Senate Bill No. 260 proposes to put in place mechanisms toward relevant nursing practices, just and humane working conditions and the promotion of professional growth of nurses to enhance their general welfare and commitment to service.

The bill specifically proposes that entry-level nurses working in government institutions receive a salary not lower than Salary Grade 15 (SG-15) or equivalent to P30,531.

Citing Department of Labor and Employment’s Bureau of Local Employment (Dole-BLE) data, Pangilinan said an entry-level registered nurse in the country receives a monthly salary of P8,000 to P13,500.

Nurses in government hospitals receive an average monthly salary of P13,500 while those employed in private hospitals get about P10,000, he added.

“Sa huli, ang layunin ng panukalang ito ay ang mapabuti ang kalagayan ng propesyon ng nursing at ang itaguyod ang kalidad ng pangangalagang pangkalusugan para sa lahat ng mga Pilipino (Ultimately, the goal of this measure is to improve the plight of the nursing profession and to promote quality health care for all Filipinos),” said Pangilinan in SB 260.

The opposition senator pointed out that nurses in the Philippines “endure low salaries, long working hours, physical and mental burnout, and high nurse-patient ratio.”

The World Health Organization estimates that around 22,000 health professionals leave the Philippines annually to work abroad making the country the biggest world’s largest source of nurses, according to Pangilinan.

In the United States alone, almost 50 percent of total foreign nurses are Filipinos.

As health professionals leave the country, “the Philippine health system suffers,” Pangilinan lamented, noting that of the 70 percent of Filipinos living in rural areas, only 10 percent benefit from the services of medical professionals.  /gsg

READ: Higher, just wages for nurses pushed