Senator Imee Marcos proposed on October 27 that, in addition to the stopgap measure of resetting deployment restrictions, pledge-of-service agreements be included in nursing scholarship programs.
She believes that this long-term solution, which is supported by the Philippine Nurses Association, would provide nursing students with the educational stability they require while also ensuring that the country has a continuous supply of new nurses each year.
“Until such incentives can be legislated, the government should not curtail a nurse’s choice to leave for work overseas,” said Sen. Marcos.
Congress should boost the compensation grade in private hospitals to Level 15, or a minimum of PHP35,097, according to Marcos, in order to persuade Filipino nurses to stay in the nation.
The congressman suggested that the Department of Budget and Management reconsider its policy of exempting contractual nurses from compensation increases and that the Department of Health (DOH) prioritize them for regular employment.
“Even contractual nurses were tried and tested during the Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic. Buwis-buhay din sila gaya ng mga regular,” she added.
Sen. Marcos stated that Congress can also extend special risk allowances for healthcare personnel, which would expire when the state of public health emergency ends on December 31.
With final budget negotiations set to begin in November, she asked her colleagues to embrace the planned nursing reforms.
She said this in preparation of “inseparable public health and economic issues” in the coming months, when the worldwide nursing shortage, estimated at 17 percent by the International Council of Nurses, has opened higher-paying possibilities abroad for Filipino nurses.
However, Marcos cautioned that their departure would erode the country’s ability to deal with public health catastrophes such as pandemics and natural disasters.
