(INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)
MANILA, Philippines — Health Secretary Teodoro “Ted” Herbosa on Thursday said he is looking at the possibility of allowing nursing graduates to work in government hospitals even before taking the licensure examination.
According to Herbosa, the nursing graduates will then be given the opportunity to take and pass the exam while employed.
“I’ll make [them] eligible so if you have a diploma in an accredited school recognized, I’ll give you a period of time to pass it, this is same in the US, they accept board-eligible nursing graduates and you make them work for five years [giving them the same time] to pass the exam,” said Herbosa in an interview over ANC when asked if he plans to lift the license requirement for government nurses.
“I’ll even mentor them and put out money to teach them so that they can pass the exam, and when they pass the exam I’ll give them the full item of a licensed nurse,” he added.
Herbosa said that this way, the DOH can fill its 4,500 vacant nursing positions and give employment to nursing graduates.
He, however, said that the possibility would still depend on the Professional Regulation Commission, as well as the country’s laws.
“Pagaaralan ko pa, kasi hindi ako abogado. But the idea is great (I will have to study it more, because I am not a lawyer. But the idea is great),” he said when asked if laws would have to be amended to allow the plan to succeed.
Herbosa lamented that many nursing graduates end up in other jobs when they should be in clinics or hospitals attending to patients.
Currently, nurses are required to have licenses before being employed in the government – meaning, they have to pass the nursing board examinations first.