Senators buck plan to hire nursing flunkers

MANILA, Philippines — Senators are not supportive of the idea of acting Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa to allow unlicensed nurses to work in government hospitals to address the shortage of health workers.

The DOH chief earlier said that nursing graduates who failed their board exam with scores between 70-74 percent will be employed in government hospitals.

The measure will allow non-board passers to work in state hospitals under supervision and with temporary licenses.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III said Herbosa should stick to the current setup and try to address the education and examination system to ensure the readiness of the nursing graduates.

“Stick to the current grade of 75 percent as the passing grade. Improve the exam and make sure the questions ask to test the competence and readiness of the nursing examinee. Make the exam direct to the important knowledge and skill set for nurses. If the nursing graduate passed, the examinee is ready and competent. If he or she flunked then clearly and surely, he or she is not yet ready to be a nurse,” Pimentel said.

“We have to protect the integrity of our testing system. When they passed, it means they are ready. Flunking means they are not yet ready. Study and prepare more for the next exam. 75 means 75, not 74.5,” he noted.

Sen. Nancy Binay lamented the large shortage of nurses in public hospitals. “That’s why during the height of the pandemic – due to the lack of medical frontliners and so that our over-fatigued health workers can have relief – we called to tap our fresh grad nurses and those who just finished taking board exams.”

“Before the DOH taps unlicensed or board-eligible nurses as a temporary solution to address the shortage, there must first be a thorough study. We need to listen to their sector first. First have a deeper and broader consultation, including allied sectors in the medical field. But first we hope to see the DOH lay out a clear and concrete program in hospitals as far as alleviating the plight of health care workers is concerned,” she added.

She noted that “the most practical thing is to prioritize hiring unemployed nurses; provide a certain level of care, respect, compassion to our overworked nurses currently serving our public hospitals.”

Temporary

Herbosa yesterday said the government’s plan to hire nurses who failed the board exams is just a temporary solution to address the shortage of nurses in the country.

“This is only a temporary solution, once the nursing vacancies are filled up, we will stop this. We will only hire what the Civil Service (Commission) requires. This is what you call an exigency of service,” Herbosa said in a radio interview.

“This is only a temporary measure. Once we already have ample supply of nurses, we will stop implementing this measure, and will require nurses to have license to be able to work,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, Philippine College of Physicians president Dr. Rontgene Solante has expressed support for Herbosa’s plan.

“I think it is a good alternative plan to employ more nursing personnel in hospitals. Right now, this is a big problem in hospitals, that is why many are not fully functional,” Solante said at the Laging Handa public briefing yesterday.
“What is important here is that these are all board eligible, meaning they are competent to do nursing work because they are nursing graduates. If they will be incorporated in hospitals, they have to undergo training also. Those who will train them would have to check if they are competent to be working in a hospital,” he added.

For his part, health reform advocate Dr. Tony Leachon said that a health summit wherein different stakeholders in the health sector can be consulted on the issue should be held.

“I understand the shortage of manpower. It’s a global problem. Perhaps the strategy is to make a formal meeting where these ideas are expressed with transparency and get other viable options,” Leachon added. — Rhodina Villanueva