Review of training, licensure systems needed to plug nurse shortage in the PHL

A REASSESSMENT of the training scheme and licensure exams is needed to plug the Philippines’ shortage of nurses, a lawmaker said on Monday.��

House Senior Minority Leader and Northern Samar Rep. Paul R. Daza said addressing these two factors should be part of a “system overhaul” to encourage nurses, who are in high demand abroad, to stay in the country.����

“It’s time for comprehensive solutions, including reforms in the licensure system, if we want to solve our shortage of nurses. Of course, it’s an economic issue — salaries abroad are definitely higher — but our nurses will stay for the right reasons,” he said in a statement.������

Mr. Daza said that according to the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), the average passing rate for the licensure exam for nurses from 2017 to 2022 was only about half or 54.84%.����

Results of last year’s Nurse Licensure Examination, however, were higher than the five-year average at 74.40%.��

Nonetheless, the solon said the passing rate “shows a glaring disparity in how nursing schools train future nurses and what the health sector requires — or it could be that even the examination system must be revisited.”����

“We need to increase [the] passing rate and find alternative ways of licensing,” he said.����

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) last week proposed a one-year certification program in its nursing curriculum to allow nursing students to start working early.����

Mr. Daza called on CHED, the PRC and its Board of Nursing to review the curriculum, including the high cost of completing a degree as well as “flaws in the licensure framework with its complicated, almost ‘archaic’ regulations.”����

“The solutions should be all-encompassing. For one, nurses will prefer staying here in the Philippines with the right motivations, outside of higher salaries,” Mr. Daza said.����

Data released by the Department of Health in September 2022 show the country has a shortage of about 106,000 nurses for both public and private medical facilities.������

The Philippine government has set a cap of 7,000 annually on the deployment of healthcare workers, which include nurses, nursing aides, and nurse assistants. The limit does not cover deployment to countries given exemption by the government such as Germany and the United Kingdom.����

Before the House’s adjournment on March 24, Mr. Daza suggested alternative licensure routes for various professions, like apprenticeship programs, to give non-passers a chance to work in their respective fields. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz��