The Philippines is considered rich in different kinds of resources, but it is recognized worldwide for its human resources, especially the high rating of Filipino nurses, with high demand in the United States and United Kingdom. According to the Association of Deans of Philippine Colleges of Nursing, the estimated monthly salaries of Filipino nurses in UK, nurses are paid an estimated USD 34,221.00 per month. In USA, the monthly salary of nurses is estimated at USD 4,000.00 to USD 6,000.00. In Saudi Arabia, nurses receive USD 700.00 to USD 1,500.00 per month. These values are huge compared to how much nurses are paid in the Philippines, which is estimated at USD 180.00 to USD 220.00 per month. These differences in wages show that there is a high return on investment in nursing skills abroad which in turn increases the demand for nursing education or courses by graduating high school students.
According to Tiongson (2008) as cited by Tullao, Conchada and Rivera (2009), the result in the rapid increase in demand for nursing education raised the number of schools that offer nursing courses from 40 in 1970s to 269 in 2005. Demand for nursing increased dramatically and made nursing a “go to” course for students who want a high paying profession. With the rise of schools that offer nursing courses, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) regulated and implemented policies that would somehow assess or check on a school’s performance regarding their nursing program.
From the years 1998 to 2007, the number of nursing enrollees grew at a rapid and large rate while the number of nursing graduates respectively became lower. However, these nursing graduates are not guaranteed a job right away, either abroad or local. The new graduates need to take the licensure exam, in the country and abroad. Nurses also need to go through screenings and different requirements in order to go abroad or any work place they desire. Migration costs also become a factor when these new graduates consider working abroad. These students should consider different factors before taking up nursing programs and become more efficient in order to aid our economy.
Characteristics of Filipino Students
Nowadays, many High School Filipino students who are about to enter college choose Nursing as their course. The seemingly increase in demand abroad for nurses attracts these students to take this course because of the high returns in the form of high salary. Students can be characterized as risk takers. They consider Nursing as investment where in higher risk means higher return disregarding other factors.
Characteristics of Colleges and Universities offering Nursing course
Due to the increasing demand for nursing course, there is a push for the schools to supply the demand. Though some of the schools do not really offer a course in Nursing, it started to offer to absorb the demand for nursing education and also offering a course with high demand is a profit-generating activity. Due to the fact that these schools opened to absorb the excess demand for nursing education, its performance is far from the performance of schools which originally offers nursing education.
The rapid increase in the number of nursing schools posed a great threat in the quality of nursing graduates due to low quality of instruction provided in these schools. As reported by Divinagracia (2003) as cited by Osteria (2006), the survey conducted among 2392 faculty members in nursing schools showed a statistics that only having 48.4 percent of the surveyed faculty members have B.S in Nursing degree with M.A units and that only 22.3 percent have master’s degree in Nursing. Also, most of the nursing schools only have 15 faculty members or less.
Policy implication
The government should regulate the fly by night schools. The quality of nursing graduates is deteriorating due to inefficient education received by these students. Also, the government should be able to release gathered facts regarding the demand for nurses abroad. It is not enough that the government inform the public, asymmetry in information misleads the prospective nursing students. Hidden information such as tedious application and rigorous screening do not reach the aspiring nursing students making them more attractive in getting a nursing course even though the demand is slowly decreasing as well as the chance of being hired. The government should also give priority to other courses such as engineering and sciences. In order to implement this policy, the government should increase the cost of education of taking nursing by raising tax. The tax collected can then be used to subsidize other courses which also have demands abroad.
References:
Conchada, C., Rivera, J.P. and Tullao, T. (2009). The Labor Migration Industry for Health and Educational Services: Regulatory and Governance Structures and Implications for National Development.
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