The Plight of Nursing Education in the Philippines

Five years ago, there was a sudden surge of nursing education in the Philippines due to the fact that global demands for nurses also increased. Filipino nurses were preferred most over other contemporaries because of the level of knowledge and the type of care they render to their patients. But several changes have already occurred the following years, which include the dwindling employment of nurses abroad (not to mention the unavailable jobs here in our country as well), and the massive establishment of nursing schools and colleges that do not even produce quality graduates.

The Phenomena of Nursing Education

Most of the deans and presidents of nursing schools, who are also considered as pillars of nursing education, have been attributing the term "phenomena" to the event that we are experiencing right now. Taking time back, the start of 2001 paved the way to the mushrooming of nursing schools that even an information technology school have opened a college of nursing. This is due to the fast turnover of nursing graduates going abroad and even fresh graduates without hospital experiences have seen themselves working and taking care of foreign patients immediately.

The Philippines is not a rich country. As a matter of fact, every year we are experiencing the worst-of-the-worst economic problems. The term "below poverty line" seems to undermine every Filipino families because we never meet the basic standard way of living. Job offers abroad most especially that of a registered nurse in the US or in UK gives hope to these families.

To be working and earning in dollars or euro are indeed answers to these problems. Therefore, parents (no matter how poor) send their children to nursing schools to study the profession and will find ways and means just to see their children finish the 4-year course. Almost every high school graduate took their college entrance tests for nursing. Because the demands were high, colleges neglect to see the importance of screening and maintaining good and quality students. Regardless of the consequences, nursing schools continue to proliferate all throughout the country that it was becoming more of a business than a mission to mold and develop good and quality nurses.

This is why we have now a surplus of nursing graduates and most of them cannot find work (280,000 as of February 2011). The present government already issued a moratorium that enrollment for nursing be stopped in order to find ways for these unemployed graduates to work. The Commission on Higher Education have also issued a warning on the schools and colleges that they will be closed if they are not able to sustain a higher percentage of board passing rate in the Nursing Licensure Examination (NLE). The basis for the closure will be a 3-year consecutive below the national board passing rate of the said examination.

The Fall of the Phoenix

Indeed, it is a side plight for every nursing faculty to see that nursing education starts to wane. If this is the only source of income that your family is relying on, then it is advisable that you have to find other sources to sustain your living. But the most sad thing is, Filipinos have been attributing the nursing profession as a lucrative career to earn dollars and euros. We cannot take that concept away, but if only we see beyond the materialistic component of the profession - that nursing is in fact taking care and saving human life. If people (and the government) will look and understand this way, then hopefully there will be more students who will be studying for nursing.

But as the mythical creature phoenix dies, nursing education in the Philippines will hopefully rise again and will continue to produce the best Filipino nurses for the world.

Read more: i.Nars Summit