According to the Philippine labor department, Filipino nurses and other health workers continue to have jobs abroad and more are still wanted. Recently, the United Kingdom has reopened its door for Filipino nurses. For more than a year now, United Kingdom followed a stricter scheme in hiring foreign nurses which in turn closed any opportunity for Filipino nurses to work there.
Marianito Roque, the present head of the Philippine Labor Department, announced that recently, there were 160 Filipino nurses recruited to work in the United Kingdom. Roque added that this number is an initial batch of Filipino nurses to be deployed in various British hospitals and care centers. Roque is also optimistic the this is just the start for more demands for Filipino nurses not only to the United Kingdom but worldwide.
Presently, the Labor Department is in the process in gathering data on the current situation of the nursing sector in the country. A balance between the number of those who left the country and those who are staying should be maintained. A surplus of nurses is not good for the economy while a shortage means poor quality of health care for Filipinos at home.
The Philippine nursing Association earlier reported that there is a surplus of nurses in the country because demands from the United States declined. Some local activists however pointed out that it is not the number that counts. What matters is the migration to other countries of the most experienced Filipino health workers making the poor state of the local health sector even worse. They are calling for the government to implement programs that would provide quality employment opportunities in the Philippines instead of encouraging Filipinos to work abroad.
The following is a YouTube video showing a Filipino surgeon working as a nurse in the United States.
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