In London, more than a decade ago, I met a Filipino nurse who took me around the British capital.
At that time, I just finished a three-week journalism training and would soon be going back home to Manila. My new found friend, on the other hand, had no plans of going home. In fact, he had bigger plans. To work in the Middle East or in the United States one day.
We roamed London one whole afternoon, riding buses and the London Tube, sipping English tea and enjoying some snacks, too. In between those moments and amidst the biting cold and grey London weather, he shared with me his dreams–and struggles–as an RN or registered nurse.
I could sense his resentment against our government. They don’t feel cared for, he says. More than the salary, it’s how they are treated at home compared to other countries.
He had this sentiment I distinctly remember. When they come to the Philippines, authorities treat them as if they’re not modern-day heroes. He and his fellow RNs — or overseas Filipinos in general—would always have a difficult time when they go home to the Philippines for vacation. Authorities make it difficult for them to reenter or exit the Philippines by questioning their papers and treating them with disrespect.
During times like this, they just want to scream back with expletives or cuss words, but they are often too tired to fight back or reason out.
My encounter with a London-based nurse happened more than a decade ago, and while his story may not represent the situation of our nurses, it certainly speaks volumes on how Filipino nurses feel.
Unfortunately, the situation hasn’t changed. It even worsened after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Functional bed capacity
The largest private sector hospital group in the country today, Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Health (MPH), for instance, said the nurses’ exodus is real and is one of the reasons we had problems in healthcare at the height of the pandemic, says MPH president Augie Palisoc Jr.
According to Palisoc, hospitals in general aren’t able to function to their full capacity because of the lack of nurses.
In the case of MPH, they have a capacity of 3,800 beds, but because of the lack of nurses, their functional or operational bed capacity is only at 2,500 to 3,000, says Palisoc.
This, indeed, is alarming. We may be building more hospitals, expanding our healthcare facilities, but without healthcare workers, this additional bed capacity will be useless.
200,000 shortage
The Department of Health said last week that the Philippines needs to offer better benefits and salaries to fill a shortage of 106,000 nurses.
The shortage is felt in other healthcare professions at some 194,000 or a shortage of 106,541 nurses; 67,345 physicians; 6,651 pharmacists; 5,502 x-ray technicians; 4,416 medical technologists; 1,680 nutritionists and dietitians; 884 occupational therapists; 785 midwives; 223 physical therapists; and 87 dentists.
DOH officer-in-charge Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said implementing a deployment cap would not solve the shortage. There must be significant changes in benefits and salaries.
Vergeire said the Magna Carta for Public Health Workers, which was enacted 30 years ago, also needs to be amended to standardize salaries of medical professionals in public and private hospitals.
Reasons to stay
Indeed, we need urgent action to encourage our nurses and other healthcare workers to stay in the Philippines.
If we cannot match the salaries offered by other countries, our nurses should at least be allowed to focus solely on nursing work.
But as it is now, in both government and private hospitals they are required to do other non-nursing tasks, such as administration work and even janitorial work.
This is not how it is in other countries, as the nurse I met in London would attest.
Reintegration
There should also be a national effort to attract migrants back home and to make it a policy that migration is predominantly temporary.
This can be done through reintegration programs. For instance, health workers with enhanced skills should be recognized for their contributions to the economy.
This can be done by putting in place career-path development programs that will provide better compensation and a more conducive working environment.
The nursing profession must, likewise, be established as an honorable and necessary profession domestically. Thus, the government and hospitals must give utmost importance to domestic health careers. Excellent performance must be rewarded and exploitation must be addressed.
Health-related professional organizations or associations should be proactive in monitoring work-related exploitation in hospitals.
The nurses’ exodus is our current and biggest health emergency at the moment.
Our government and our private hospitals must act on this with urgency. Filipino nurses are among the best and most caring health workers in the world. Sadly, in their very own home country, they don’t feel cared for.
Iris Gonzales’ email address is eyesgonzales@gmail.com.
Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen on FB.