Filipino Nurses as Caregivers Abroad
The movie of Sharon Cuneta “Caregiver” perfectly depicts the life and frustrations of Filipino caregivers abroad. Most of our caregivers are nurses or nursing graduates, in case you didn’t know. I haven’t seen Sharon Cuneta’s movie and this is not going to be an article about showbiz or movies. It’s about Pinoys abroad working as caregivers.
The Philippines is Canada’s best source of caregivers. I know because one of my former flames went there in 1999. She’s a nurse four years my senior. We had plans of getting married and this is no secret to my present wife.
Being a nursing researcher, I got interested in studying how many Filipinos work abroad as caregivers. I do not have the exact figures at this point in time but in 2007 alone, some 200,000 Filipinos have been living in the UK for at least 3 years and working mostly in health facilities. In Canada, the scenario is quite the same. More than 200,000 Filipinos or Pinoys work in hospitals and nursing homes as nurses, nursing assistants and caregivers.
Each year, The Philippines sends Filipino workers abroad and it seems that working as a caregiver is the easiest way out of the country.
From experience, in 1999 and earlier years, if you are a nursing graduate or a Registered Nurse (RN), you can apply as caregiver to Canada and UK without undergoing any further training. In 2001, job requirements became more strict and the Philippine government made changes to policies regarding employment abroad as a caregiver. Starting then, nurses/nursing graduates or anyone who wanted to work as a caregiver had to undergo schooling. It was the start of the “Caregiver School Outbreak” where the number of caregiver schools or training centers all over the country started to increase at a very fast rate.
In my view, the government policy or job requirement was laced with a little malice. It was known at a later time that most of the caregiver training centers or schools were owned by government officials. It all boiled down to business, baby!
Up to now, the situation remains the same. And how about the caregivers? Are they having the best time of their lives? Nope. That’s an illusion. Most of them either suffer from the “homesick versus dollar” syndrome or regret for not having been with their families for a long time. The worst is when a mother fails to see her kids grow up. This is a huge sacrifice on their parts. And who cares about our caregivers and other overseas Filipino workers (OFW’s)? We all should, not just the government.
So, do you want to be a caregiver?
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Tags: Caregivers, Filipino Nurse, health, Homesick versus Dollar Syndrome, Nursing Research, OFW, personal
A have a friend kuya, we worked as a pharmacist in a hospital before tapos nung time nang caregiver madness eh ng aral sya, muntik na din akong ma convince nya eh kaso mahirap lang kasi dapat full time ang ibigay mo, kaya napilitan sya mg resign sa work. Until now di pa sya nakaalis..
I agree with you kuya, mahirap maging OFW, money can’t pay the sadness and the emptiness that an OFW is experiencing being away from his/her family. The thought of taking care of other people just to earn money instead of taking care of your family is disheartening. But we can’t really blame them, mahirap ang buhay, ika nga nila. At ang masaklap pa parang lang ginagwa ang government natin, lalo pa you mentioned na most caregiver training centers are owned by government officials.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to money.
twinks’s last blog post..Rain..Rain..
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jessie Reply:
June 21st, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Twinks,
Yan nga ang problema ng maraming OFWs – the lack of support coming from the Philippine government. I understand teh feeling of OFWs dahil marami akong friends and relatives na nasa abroad. Mahirap ang kalagayan nila. Working abroad is not a bed of roses, ika nga.
jessie’s last blog post..Boston Celtics are the New NBA Champions
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i honestly feel so sorry for those people working away from home. you can never blame them because extreme poverty forces them to. few nurses stays there in the philippines for a greener pasture abroad. most of them think that working away is the solution to their hard life. but that wasn’t always the case. sometimes it is better to stick out there in the philippines than gamble things away in another country.
and one would think that the philippine government will look after those OCW’s. but the truth is, none of them cares! i witnessed how our philippine consulate in dubai treats those poor and helpless filipina nannies like maids! yes, they treat them as maids in the consulate. if somebody visits them and gives them food or anything, those bastards at the consulate have a hand for those first!
really, really sad!
hay . . .
Sheng’s last blog post..Thursday’s Dinner Out
[Reply]
jessie Reply:
June 21st, 2008 at 10:53 pm
Sheng,
Yan din ang sentiments ng marami nating kababayang OFWs. Grabe kung minsan ang government natin. Walang ginagawa kung minsan. Kung meron man, ginagawa nilang publicity stunt para lang makapagpa-pogi.
jessie’s last blog post..Learning How to be Patient
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agree ako dyan..not a bed of roses at akala ng ibang tao sa pinas namumulot ka nang pera naku..buhay di maiwasan kasi yun nga magtrabaho para sa pamilya..ako may kamag anak din kung sang sang lupalop ng mundo at kayod marino parin gang ngayun…luha, pawis at minsan dugo ang binuwis. ay teka para akung nagtalumpati ah..daan lang fren..badtrip ako asawa ko walang pasensya grrr…outside the kulambo siya ngayun hmmm!:D
[Reply]
jessie Reply:
June 21st, 2008 at 10:56 pm
Oo nga eh. Kala lang ng marammi na masarap masayado ang buhay sa abroad.
Natawa naman ako sa sinabi mo fren na outside the kulambo si hubby
Bloghop na lang ako bukas fren. Pinainom na naman ako ng mga kaklase ko kung college. Alam nilang bday ko humabol sila dahil galing abroad yung dalawa.
jessie’s last blog post..Men and Women Joke: Intense Grief
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sa totoo lang kuya, this issue hits my heart like nothing else does. The reality that people really have got not much of a choice but to leave the country to seek greener pastures really hurts. I mean not just personally, but when I try to step out of the box and look at what’s really happening, I see it like some sort of a curse. I really pray that the Lord will redeem our land.
Naalala ko yung article ni Ellaine about our country, how we are blessed agriculturally, etc. and the fact that we are not at all behind in several aspects. Matatalino pa ang mga tao dito kung tutuusin. Kahit pa anong sbihin natin na msaya ang mga pinoy abroad kasi well compensated sila, eh talagang malungkot parin na mahiwalay sa bansa at pamilya.
If you’re not a capitalist and do not hold a very good paying job in the Philippines, and you have a family to think of, it’s hard to stay when you know you and your family have a better future abroad. Anyway, bottom line, I am still praying to live to see the day that things will be better around here.
Lam mo ba kuya, sa totoo lang kaya ako kumuha ng license is because I wanted to apply abroad to teach like my cousin who just left with her family last year. It’s really easy kung tutuusin, pero masakit gawin. Blessing naman na umokey itong blogging for us. I know it’s not even half as much as my potential earnings if I go abroad, but for now this is the choice I’m making. Seeing that all things do work together for good for those who love God. Proof din ito na ayaw ng Lord na mailayo ko sa ministry si mister sa pagpapastor niya. Diba ngfo fall into place lahat. Lam ko naman na di aksidente yung timing. Anyway, kuya tlagang I’m praying for our country in general. Starting from the chief executive. Sabi nga ni John Maxwell, “Everything rises and falls on leadership.” That alone tells us why we’re in a predicament this country is in.
Naku pasensya ka na kuya ha. Sabi ko syo this issue hits home tlaga. Thanks for the space.
Jen’s last blog post..Going “Green” Movement
[Reply]
jessie Reply:
June 22nd, 2008 at 10:30 am
jen
I agree. Everything falls in the right places. Sa totoo lang, wala naman sigurong Pinoy na gugustuhing iwan ang family nya because of greener pasture if and only if there’s a lot of job opportunities for nurses and other workers in the Philippines. Sana nga magbago na ang gobyerno natin.
The question is, “Kelan pa?”
jessie’s last blog post..Boston Celtics are the New NBA Champions
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in our town here in Luton, Beds, UK, we have a large Filipino community composed mainly of nurses who man a major hospital in this area. our nurses here are highly esteemed for the quality of service they give and their plain industry. during holidays here, the natives really enjoy the break but Pinoys would rather go on duty to take advantage of the double pay. try walking into a ward on such holidays and chances are, you will be able to understand all the staff as they are all kabayans – from the nurses to the health care assistants and even the kitchen staff.
one blessing here is that most of us have our families with us, thus lessening the homesickness. but for those who are not as fortunate, being away from family is indeed a steep price to pay – almost too much.
by the way, if you know any NICU-trained nurses there, the UK is short of such specialty-trained nurses. baka gusto nila mag apply he he he!
last but not least, i would appreciate your comments on my latest post as I look up to you as a superior blogger – awan ulbud na.
Pinoy Around the World’s last blog post..Read on and Be Proud
[Reply]
jessie Reply:
June 22nd, 2008 at 10:33 am
Pinoy around the world,
Ok din ang commercial mo ha.
Ilocano ka rin pala. Buti ka nga at madyo nakalayo ka na dito sa Pinas. I hope you’re doing great there in the UK. See? There are many Pinoy Nurses working in the UK. Ganyan na kadami ang mga kababayan natin dyan based on statistics. Sige, mapanak man ngarud ta site mo.
jessie’s last blog post..Boston Celtics are the New NBA Champions
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The mere fact that Philippines is the most corrupt country in asia, though it is a christian country! so ironical diba!, and those government officials who were hungry for money, We will not survive if only we will stay in our country.
Nakababa man ng tingin ng tao ang caregiver job but its the only choice our fellow OFW has to take with the hope to have financial stability and support the family being left behind.
D lahat ng nag OFW may freedom and sense of wellbeing, marami sa atin parang nasa kulungan at puno ng kalungkutan, and iba nasa magandang bansa nga tulad ng UK, Canada, US at Australia pero ang D alam ng lahat na sila ay nag tatrabahong parang kabayo at d ito sinabi ng OFW kasi ayaw ma degrade at ayaw malungkot ang pamilyang naiwan, with the taxes they have to pay except middle east countries ay parang parusa pa rin ang mag trabaho na dapat makapag ipon para makapag padala ng pera sa naiwan sa pinas,And iba nga dyan nag sideline na ibenta ang katawan para lang may maipadala sa pilipnas.
I am also OFW and been working for 5 years now,alam ko ang kalungkutan, kasiyahan at hirap na dinanas ng ating mga OFW, pero naman pag uwi sa pilipinas ay parang naging isang 1 day millionaire!, sana naman ang ating pinaghirapan ay mapunta sa tama at nang mabago naman ang takbo ng ating buhay gaya ng ating plano bago mag ibang bansa.
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[...] is still in need of well trained nurses and caregivers”. This need to employ Filipino nurses and caregivers was stated by Mr. Makato Katsura, Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines. The Japanese ambassador [...]