Oversupply of Nurses in the Philippines Largely Contributes to the Philippine Unemployment Rate
My wife and I were discussing Nursing trends and issues last night and one of the topics we dealt with was the oversupply of nurses in the Philippines. The discussion was prompted by her batchmates in college comlaining about the difficulty of finding job opportunities for nurses or nursing graduates. This was no longer a shocking news because it’s a common knowledge that nursing job opportunites are scarce in the country, hence, the graduates’ perseverance to work abroad as caregivers, dental assistants, nursing aides, etc. Do we really have an oversupply of nurses in the Philippines? Read on if you wish to find out .
Oversupply of nurses in the Philippines is reflected in recent statistics which shows that as of 2008, there are 460 accredited Nursing schools in the Philippines. The total BS Nursing graduates reached 67,728 in the same year. More than 70,000 (adding the number of those who did not pass the board exam in their previous attempt/s) were expected to take the June 2008 Nursing Board Examination given and administered by the Philippine Regulation Commission (PRC). How many of these examinees will pass the board exam? That we do not know yet but the trend shows that only between 60-70% pass the board exam each year. Taking all things constant, the remaining 30-40% (non-passers) account for about 21,000-28,000 unregistered nurses who cannot put their education to good use because of stringent employment requirements even in their own localities. This goes to show that many of our nursing graduates in the Philippines are either unemployed or underemployed. In my rough estimation, the unemployment rate of nurses/nursing graduates could be between 50,000-60,000 per year.
As to deployment abroad, starting in 2006, between 13,000-15,000 Registered Nurses (RN) have been deployed abroad every year. Locally, it seems these nurses cannot find gainful employment because very few job openings are available. If they can ever find jobs here, there is a high likelihood that there will be a job mismatch because as I have seen in the past, BS Nursing graduates work in department stores as clerks, in food chains as service crews, in government agencies as secretaries and the like. The oversupply of nurses in the Philippines is becoming a serious problem. With the increasing number of nursing students enrolled each year, we will certainly produce more and more unemployed individuals after their graduation (as we experienced many years ago). The sad thing is we are not producing hundreds or a few thousands of unemployed nurses but tens of thousand on a yearly basis.
As of late, the New Philippine Nursing Curriculum has been revamped and included two new subjects. With this New Nursing Curriculum, concerned parties like parents and students have expressed their grievances over the addition of the new subjects because they will definitely spell more expenses. Taking into account the crises (yes folks, plural!) that we have here in the Philippines, this scenario is unacceptable to the majority of parents and students affected by the revamp in the BS Nursing curricullum. Did this incident discourage students from enrolling in the BS Nursing program? Nope. Not a bit. Nursing as a course and profession will remain attractive to Filipinos because of its promising material benefits in the future. In view of this, oversupply of nurses in the Philippines will continue, which is implied by latest trends in the supply of and demand for Filipino nurses here and abroad.
How can we possibly regulate, if not eliminate, the oversupply of nurses in the Philippines? Personally, if I were in the position to recommend to the Philippine government policies regarding this subject, I would recommend the strict regulation of Nursing schools applying for accreditation as one of the many ways to ensure quality nursing education. Licenses of Nursing schools which cannot provide quality education should be revoked. Also, students who want to enroll in the BS Nursing program should be screened thoroughly. “Filtering” should be done up to their third year in the degree program. If school administrators find the student unfit for the course, then they should tell the students to shift to another course as early as possible or at least put them on probation to see if the students’ academic performance will improve after one semester. Nursing is not the only course in the Philippines. Students whose hearts are not into it should not be forced by parents or relatives to take BS Nursing out of their hopes that their children will make more money after graduation. Take money out of the equation and we’ll have a better chance to produce better and more productive healthcare professionals. Add to that, we will be able to balance the distribution of students enrolling in different degree programs over the years to come, which could help us solve our country’s problem regarding oversupply of nurses.
For updates on the Nursing Board Exam Results, click on this link: Nursing Board Exam Results June 2008. You will also see there the Nursing board exam passing rate as well as the complete list of board passers.
Update: For the changes in the New Nursing Curriculum by virtue of CHED MO No.5, click here Nursing Education in the Philippines: Nursing Curriculum Now 5 Years and see if the the problem on oversupply of nurses in the Philippines can be solved by these changes in the long run. Please feel free to comment on any of those articles 
If you want to get updates on Nursing Researches, Nursing Board Exam Results, Nursing Articles, Nursing Education, Health and Health tips, and other informative articles in this site, please subscribe to my Free RSS feed. Thank you very much!
Tags: Nursing Curriculum, nursing education, nursing opportunities, Nursing Research, oversupply of nurses in the Philippines
Kung nurse ang pag-uusapan fren ay bumabaha at wala ako ma say sa dami. Makapagtayo nga ng Caregiver Center dito toinks!
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jessie Reply:
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:08 am
Fren,
Totoo yan. Nursing is a the most attractive course in the Philippines because many people expect that after graduation you’ll earn a lot of cash. What they didn’t know is that, it could take many years before you can achieve your career goals in nursing, that is, to go abroad, work and earn high.
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another well-made post!
i do agree about the accreditation of nursing schools that seems like mushroom, popping up everywhere! with the filtering . . . i do feel sad for those who will be “filtered”, for a number of their years will just be wasted. but you have a valid point there. a probation is a good idea, for the students to improve their craft. and you’re absolutely right about parents just forcing their kids to take up nursing, in the hope of greener pasture once they passed and seek employment abroad.
i do feel sad for those nursing graduates/board passers who sadly can’t get a job. my sister whose a newly grad and just took the june board exams, is sooo bored at home, awaiting for the result. which of course, we’re all hoping and praying she’ll pass. i asked her if she wants to work out of the country. she said she wants to work back home, hopefully at makati med where she knows her way around, and know most of the people there as well.
so much for a comment. napahaba ang litanya ko! hahaha!
take care dear!
Sheng’s last blog post..Are We Beyond Redemption?
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jessie Reply:
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:13 am
Sheng,
That’s ok. Totoo naman kasi na mahirap kung hahayaan nating lahat eh maging nurse na balang-araw. i mean, while it’s true we are free to choose the course that we should take (academic freedom), there should still be a means to control academic processes which could later lead to oversupply of nurse (for example). Dapat maging mas istrikto talaga ang gobyerno at schools in implementing policies to regulate the increasing trend in enrollment in the degree program. Ang masama kasi marami sa kanila ang wala ring trabaho after graduation dahil wala ngang ganong opportunities for them lalo na dito sa Pinas.
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I agree with you kuya about the probation period and screening the “deserving” students to proceed and become a Nurse. Its sad kasi dumadami ang unemployed filipinos and the government is not doing anything to solve the issue. You can’t blame the parents to force their children to become a Nurse kasi mabango na kurso eh.. in demand sa abroad. Sayang lang kasi yong iba pgkatapos na pumasa eh di na nagagamit ang kurso. I hope the government will find a solution for this problem, not only about the oversupply of Nurses but the unemployment in general. Kudos to you kuya for another great post! bravo! hehehe
twinks’s last blog post..The First Filipina Cinderella
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jessie Reply:
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:18 am
twinks,
Kkorek! Yan nga ang objective ng “filtering” in the BSN program. Only deserving students should proceed to finish Nursing. In other degree programs like BS Engineering, BS Math, BS Accountancy eh matindi ang screening. Dapat ganun din sa BS Nursing. Students should be screened properly. Academic freedom has its limits. Hindi porke gusto ng batang mag Nursing eh sige lang nang sige ang school administration. In education, pag hindi ka fit, mag-shift. Ang problema kasi malaki ang pera ng maraming schools sa mga Nursing students kaya ok lang sa kanila kahit hindi na kaya ng estudyante basta nagbabayad.
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twinks Reply:
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:58 am
Korek kuya. I reckon depende din sa school yan. In our case, sa school namin, they screened us, nung ng second yr kami we had to take examinations that will prove if we are ready and fit to proceed and become a pharmacist. If you fail, you’ll be advice to shift to another course, pero if yong score mo naman is qualified for probation then you’ll be put under a microsope during your third yr year. Mahirap but it was all for the greater good. Pero I dunno if ganun din ginagawa ng other schools. And about naman sa “bayaran” and “under the table” monkey business ng ibang schools, hahay…no comment kuya, kaya very low ang standards ng education natin dahil sa mga ganyan.
twinks’s last blog post..The First Filipina Cinderella
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jessie Reply:
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:03 am
Twinks,
Maraming issues and anomalies sa mga Nursing schools, I tell you. I’ve been with the academic community for 13 years now. Marami na kong nakitang hindi maganda sa maraming Nursing schools. I need not mention anything here.
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napa wow na naman ako sa post mo bro… very informative, well researched. as a nurse, i totally agree on you that the nursing course should be regulated so that students whose heart are not into it can still have the opportunity to shift courses while it is still early. i taught in a nursing school for a year, and i personally found out from some students that they were just influenced to take the course by the parents or relatives
nelson’s last blog post..Introducing Iñigo, Our Baby
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jessie Reply:
July 23rd, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Nelson,
Oh, naging Clinical Instructor ka pala.
Kasi totoo naman na marami lang ang mga Nursing students na napilitan. Madalas dun naguumpisa yung problema.
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Excellent post. I think naging problem sa atin yun na kung ano ang naging magandang course, everyone jumps into the bandwagon. After a few years, the market gets saturated.
My brother is about to graduate from nursing. Na-delay siya because he had to switch schools. He’s hoping na by the time he graduates and takes the board, he still has a chance to get a good job, either her or abroad.
Kat’s last blog post..Adsense alternatives?
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jessie Reply:
July 26th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Kat,
Goodluck sa brother mo. I hope when he graduates eh mabigyan sya ng opportunity para magamit nya yung Nursing degree nya.
jessie’s last blog post..Browse the Internet Using Your Mobile Phone and Opera Mini
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hi jess! my sister passed the board! we’re all very happy for her! we’ve got a certified nurse in the family now!
btw, how do you that cut where you can just click on for the rest of the entry? i’m making a long post, mainly with just pics. I don’t want to put the whole post in. how do i do that?
hope you could help me, when you’ve got time.
thanks and good day!
Sheng’s last blog post..Let’s Do The Countdown
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jessie Reply:
July 26th, 2008 at 11:59 am
Sheng,
WordPress kasi ang gamit ko. Iba-blog ko na lang yung sagot dyan sa tanong mo dahil medyo mahaba ang discussion. By the way, congrats to your siter for passing the Nursing Board Exam.
jessie’s last blog post..Browse the Internet Using Your Mobile Phone and Opera Mini
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dumadami na ang population ng nursing sa pilipinas,halos lhat ng mga estudyante ay kumukuha na ng nursing dahil sa kahirapan ng buhay.at gustong makaahon sa kahirapan at gumunhawa ang buhay, ang laki ng epekto ng sobrang population ng nursing sa pilipinas kc lalong naghihirap ang ekonomiya ng bansa sabayan pa ng mga kurakot na mga pulitiko kya lalong naghi2rap ang pilipinas.
sna mbgyan pansin dn ang mga ibang kurso ngaun kc kumukonti ang mga my gustong kumuha niti,tulad na ng education., sna wag natin hntayin na puro nursing n lng ang mga tao, cnu na ang mga magtuturo sa su2nod na henerasyon kung wla na dn pati mga guro..
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[...] might also want to read my post titled “Oversupply of Nurses in the Philippines Largely Contributes to the Philippine Unemployment Rate” to gain further insight on the number of unemployed or underemployed Nursing graduates in [...]
[...] Board Exam Passers for June 2008). Another article I have written about this topic was “Oversupply of Nurses in the Philippines Largely Contributes to the Philippine Unemployment Rate” where the discussion focused on the rate of unemployment in the Philippines in general and [...]
[...] You may click on the following links below to read related articles on Nursing topics like the Oversupply of Nurses in the Philippines and the New Philippine Nursing Curriculum. Thank you for dropping [...]
who posted this topic?? i need his name because i will use his research as my reference so that i could give him all the credits…
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jessie Reply:
November 16th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Andrew,
I wrote the article. My name is Jessie P. Simbulan. You can find more about me in the About page of this site. I even emailed you a while back.
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Employment-Based Third Preference (EB-3) Visa Retrogression that is happening nowadays is one of the contributing factors for massive unemployment on the part of the nurses in the Philippines. The EB-3 Category for the Philippines is currently oversubscribed. There are huge numbers of currently-employed nurses in hospitals who are EB-3 Visa Applicants. They will only file for resignation if they have already received the precious visa. The effect of this is the hardship of finding a job because there’s no-one seems to be filing a resignation.
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elow
who posts this article?
bakit hindi ko macopy yung content?
i just need this article for my research study..
thanks a lot
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