NI NOEL ABUEL
Aabot sa kabuuang 8,128 nursing graduates mula sa Pilipinas ang kumuha ng U.S. licensure examination sa unang pagkakataon mula Enero hanggang Hunyo ngayong taon.
Sinabi ni Quezon City Rep. Marvin Rillo na umakyat sa 129 porsiyento ang itinaas ng mga Pinoy nurses na kumuha ng National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX).
“The 8,128 represents an increase of 129 percent when compared to the 3,550 Filipino nursing graduates that took the U.S. licensure examination, or the NCLEX, for the first time in the same six-month period in 2021, excluding repeaters,” sabi ni Rillo, vice chairperson ng House committee on higher and technical education.
“The numbers, released only last week, strongly indicate that a growing number of Filipino nurses are raring to practice their profession in America, mainly on account of record-high paychecks there,” sabi nito.
Noong 2021, aabot sa kabuuang 9,788 Pinoy nurses ang kumuha ng NCLEX sa unang pagkakataon.
“We really have to invest more aggressively to retain our nurses in public hospitals – to discourage them from leaving for higher-paying jobs abroad after practicing only for one or two years here at home,” sabi ni Rillo.
Una nang inihain ni Rillo ang House Bill No. 5276, na itaas ang suweldo ng mga Pinoy nurses sa bansa mula P36,619 ay gawing P63,997.
Sa ilalim ng panukala, ang pinakamababang sahod ng mga Pinoy nurses na nasa public health institutions ay dadagdagan ng anim na antas sa Salary Grade 21 na itinatakda sa ilalim ng Salary Standardization Law of 2019.
“Private hospitals in the country also have to spend more money to keep their nurses. Otherwise, they are bound to lose more nurses to foreign employers,” ayon sa kongresista.
Noong nakaraang buwan, sinabi ng Department of Health (DOH) na nangangailangan ang mga pampubliko at pribadong ospital ng kabuuang 106,541 nurses.
“Even in America, we were told that a number of U.S. states are also losing nurses to corporate agencies deploying ‘travel nurses’ to other states facing (nursing) staff shortages. Travel nurses in America are receiving offers of up to $3,000 in weekly pay, or around P177,000,” ayon pa kay Rillo.
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