A former official of the University of the Philippines-Manila yesterday advised those eyeing nursing courses next school year to earn dollars have to step back and explore other possible careers.
“If they want to take up nursing because they think they have the aptitude and inclination to become a nurse, irrespective of going abroad, irrespective of earning dollars, then go. We need nurses like that. In other words – take nursing for the right reason,” Dr. Josefina Tuazon, former dean of UP-Manila College of Nursing, said during an interview.Tuazon, now a member of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Technical Committee on Nursing Education, noted that one should go to nursing school not because he wants to work in other countries.
According to Tuazon, there are still limited employment opportunities in many healthcare facilities abroad primarily due to the financial crunch.
The United States, she cited for instance, had slowed down in the processing of nurses’ visas due to retrogression.
“If you are using nursing as a stepping stone to go abroad, then don’t take up nursing because this is not the right time. Employments are not going to be readily available and more importantly, in this profession, we don’t need people doing that,” she explained.
The past decade had witnessed the mushrooming of nursing schools – mostly substandard – in the Philippines, thus, saturating the industry. It is estimated that there are now close to 300,000 registered nurses who are either unemployed or underemployed.
Tuazon pointed out that this development had “compromised the quality of nursing care” in the country.
“What made nursing different – the reason the reputation was good – prior to this trend? Before, only those who had the inclination took up nursing. But now, there are students who were even forced to take up nursing to help in the family. That is not exactly the right characteristic, the right attitude, the right mindset for nurses to give (the) nursing (profession) a good name abroad or anywhere else,” she maintained.
Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz yesterday called on licensed nurses, nursing graduates and other job seekers with healthcare backgrounds to “go out-of-the-box” and look for other healthcare-related job opportunities.
In a statement, Baldoz gave assurance that there is an “array of non-clinical, yet, medical-related job opportunities as alternate careers in the healthcare industry” for them.
“With the fast-growing and innovative trends and advancements in the healthcare industry, I encourage you to go out-of-the-box, beyond the traditional clinical jobs, and explore other emerging medical and health-related careers that are needed by our labor market today,” she said.
Citing a report of the Bureau of Local Employment (BLE), Baldoz claimed that the healthcare information outsourcing sector of the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry is now one of the “fast-growing sectors” that offer over 100,000 medical-related jobs to nursing graduates.
“With the growth trend in the healthcare information management outsourcing industry, healthcare careers now expand into various disciplines which open huge career opportunities for nursing graduates and allied medical professionals,” she explained.
Nursing graduates can also consider working as clinical research associates who monitor and administer health and safety protocols and related study training to assigned work sites.
“If they are into clinical review and decision making, they may consider a career as a Clinical Appeals Specialist who abstracts clinically relevant facts documented in the patient’s medical record, reviews clinical cases and responds to written medical appeals of patients and clients,” Baldoz added.
Source: http://ph.news.yahoo.com/aspiring-nurses-urged-explore-other-fields-160000685.html
No comments:
Post a Comment