MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) plans to closely coordinate with other government agencies in finding unemployed registered nurses, with the aim of luring them to work in state health facilities.
The agency expressed agreement with Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte that efforts must be made to identify the nurses who are not working in the health sector.
“Towards this goal, the DOH will work with the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) to determine the number of nurses who passed the board, and will work with the Department of Labor and Employment to trace nurses who are not engaged and employed in the health sector,” the DOH said in a statement.
DOH also plans to identify the vacant positions in government health facilities and will map these vacancies relative to the nursing board passers.
“The identified vacancies for nurses shall be mapped out in all regions. This will give due advantage to them that they are geographically closer to their residences as well,” the DOH noted.
The agency further vowed to spearhead the conduct of job fairs, not just in the Central Office in Manila, but in all Centers for Health Development to ensure that those who can apply shall be able to submit their resumes.
“(We will work) to increase the salary for nurses and to push for other benefits for health care workers,” the DOH added.
Villafuerte previously reported that there are about 124,000 licensed and registered Filipino nurses, who are jobless, underemployed, or are doing non-related work.