The Nursing Profession Under Siege

To be a nurse or not to be?

An estimated 187,000 Filipino nurses are unemployed. The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) says these nurses are competing for some 70,000 nursing positions in private and public hospitals. But as if that were not enough, the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) admits the problem of unemployment in the nursing profession may just have gotten bigger.

According to PNA President Dr. Tita Barcelo.

After studying for four years, is this what we will hear from PNA? I bet any new graduate will be frustrated once they learn that a lot of nurses are underpaid, working in other industries or not working at all. It breaks my heart to see jobless nurses because I was once jobless. It took me six months to get into a paid training and another 3 months to find a Job. I was paid 6000 pesos which was not not enough to sustain my daily needs:

(In Php)

Rent - 2000

Food - 2000

Transportation Allowance - 1000

Toiletries - 300

Hanging out with Friends - 700

Savings - 0.00

There are times when I would still ask extra allowance from my parents. I was really ashamed of my self and told my self that there will be a time when I will be earning a lot and will be proud of my profession. Years passed and I was able to set my feet abroad. I started earning around seven times my previous salary but still has no savings. I tried to believe that when your salary increased, your lifestyle changes also. I was wrong, and I mean very wrong.