What Have You

A proud Filipina was voted 2006 best nurse leader in US. This is in contrary to an aired episode of “Desperate Housewives” in which Terri Hatcher delivered derogatory remarks against our humble Filipino health workers working abroad particularly in the US. A separate story on this is on file. Many Filipino health workers reacted negatively to Hatcher’s dialogue depicting Filipinos as inefficient and untrustworthy. Her inferior outlook of Pinoys angered even local folks who have seen the episode due to an obvious bias in her perception. Filipinos, just like other nationalities should be given fair treatment, that’s their cry.

This only shows that Filipino nurses are one of the best, if not the best, in the world. This is due to the good training and culture of Filipinos who are truly compassionate and caring as health workers here in the Philippines and abroad. Unlike nurses from other countries, Filipino health workers easily develop a bonding with the patient.

I have been in the field of nursing research for 12 years and I can humbly say that our Filipino nursing students are truly trained not only to become professional nurses but to care for the sick, especially the elderly. This is in part due to our early orientation of respect for the elders which begins inside the home. Filipino respect and hospitality are documented in books and interviews with tourists. We are some of the friendliest peoples worlwide although many negative write-ups about some of our countrymen are in the archives. We won’t deny the fact that many countries look down at us as a people. Some international news even depict a Filipino as either a “prostitute” or “domestic helper” – plain and simple. But come to think of it, the poverty our country has has benefited the rich and elite. What we lack in economics, we compensate in world-class service. And that’s what honor is all about.

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