Philippine Nurses Association bats for P24,000 starting salary for nurses

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) batted yesterday for a monthly starting salary of P24,000 or Salary Grade 15 for new nurses as stipulated in the Nursing Act of 2002.

In a statement, the PNA opposed the salary scheme crafted by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) that pegs the entry salary of nurses to Salary Grade 11 or P18,000 per month.

“The PNA remains steadfast in its call for the immediate implementation of the Nursing Law of 2002 (RA 9173), particularly the provision setting the government nurse’s entry level at Salary Grade 15. Nurses’ working conditions are going from bad to worse,” PNA president Teresita Barcelo said.

Emma Manuel, president of Alliance of Health Workers, noted that the current monthly starting wage of nurses is at Salary Grade 10 or P12,000.

She said that although the salary level is being proposed to go up to Salary Grade 11 in the pending salary standardization bill, this is still not enough considering the rising cost of living and the nature of the nurses’ work.

“Salary Grade 11 means additional P6,000 spread over four years. This means that every year for four years, the starting salary of nurses will increase only by P1,500,” she told The STAR.

Barcelo said the Nursing Law has been “gathering dust in the executive branch, specifically at the DBM, for seven years now.”

“But its provision for salary of nurses, for instance, is not yet implemented,” she lamented.

“The nurse’s exposure to communicable disease like Influenza A(H1N1) virus during long, even extended hours of duty, not to mention the erratic and irregular schedules, makes nursing practice a special profession,” she explained.

In contrast to the ideal nurse-patient ratio of 1:15 based on Department of Health data, only one nurse takes care of 40 to 80 patients and sometimes even 150 patients in an eight-hour shift, Barcelo said.

“This exploitative condition saves the government money: instead of hiring five to six nurses to take care of 40 to 80 patients, only one nurse is hired to do the job. These conditions give the nurses all the reasons to demand the implementation of Salary Grade 15 specified in the Nursing Law,” she said.

– Sheila Crisostomo