Out of 9,691 examinees, 5,059 successfully hurdled the June 2019 Nurse Licensure Examination, according to the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).
Jeremiah Paula Austria Caceres of Angeles University Foundation and Almira Louise Olete Hinsoy of West Visayas State University-La Paz topped the exams with a percentage rating of 87.40.
The exams were held simultaneously in Manila, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Legazpi, Lucena, Pagadian, Tacloban, Tuguegarao, and Zamboanga and 42 graduates made it to the top ten.
With more than 5,000 new nurses, finding a job overseas would be another hurdle as Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III announced a plan to “slow down” the deployment of nurses abroad.
“Yung madalas na maraming nag-ga-graduate ng nursing course at nakakuha ng board, nagte-training sila ng two years, and then they leave,” Bello said during an Independence Day job fair in Manila.
“So ang pakiusap sa atin ng PNA (Philippine Nursing Association) officers ay i-slow down ang deployment ng mga nurses natin dahil kailangang kailangan din natin ng mga nurses dito,” he added.
But working abroad is still a lucrative perspective, as the Middle East and the United Kingdom offer higher pay ranging from P40,000 to P60,000, excluding benefits.
Local jobs, however, only offer between P15,000 to P20,000 for entry-level salaries.
The Labor department though is lobbying for a law that would upgrade the minimum monthly salary of nurses to P30,000.
wala namang nurse ang gstong mag trabaho sa pinas sa baba ba nman ng pasahod neo malaki pa sahod ng mga naka upo sa munisipyo literal na naka upo at walang ginagawa.