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MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) should prioritize the hiring of unemployed registered nurses before it considers giving special permits to those who failed to pass the nursing board examination.
Anakalusugan party-list Rep. Ray Reyes made this suggestion as House labor and employment panel chair Rep. Fidel Nograles pushed for a dialogue among stakeholders on the lack of nurses in state-run hospitals.
Both proposals were in response to Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa’s proposal to let those who flunked the nursing licensure test but got a score of 70 to 74 percent work under a special permit in entry-level positions at public hospitals.
For Reyes, the DOH should instead focus on hiring unemployed or inactive registered nurses.
“We have many nurses who passed the board exam and are looking for work. Shouldn’t we prioritize the licensed nurses before giving a chance to those who did not pass the board exam?” he said in a statement.
Reyes also urged the DOH to study why many licensed nurses choose to be inactive and work in other industries or fields.
“According to the Professional Regulation Commission, only 53.55 percent of the board passers are actively practicing [their] profession. We must know why almost half of our licensed nurses do not want to practice as nurses,” he said.
Last week, Herbosa said he might consider shelving his plan should it fail to hurdle “legal roadblocks.”
No special licenses
The Professional Regulation Commission earlier stated that flunkers could not be granted temporary or special licenses to work in government hospitals. To be a certified nurse, one should have a nursing degree from an accredited college or university and pass a written examination.
Under the Philippine Nursing Act, a special or temporary permit to practice nursing may be issued only to foreign nurses invited to the country for a program or special mission.
Nograles, on the other hand, called for a dialogue among stakeholders to help the government “craft a workable strategy to address the shortage [of nurses in public hospitals], with the view toward implementing a long-term solution instead of temporary measures.”
He said the furor over the issue “could have been minimized had there been “a meaningful consultation with stakeholders,” as he called for a meeting between them and the DOH, Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Budget and Management, and local government units.