The Department of Health is not giving up on finding solutions to the country’s shortage of nurses, as it is working with the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) and the Board of Nursing to cover the lack of 4,500 nurses in government hospitals.
Despite legal limitations, Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said Friday many options are available to solve the nurse shortage in public hospitals.
“There are still many options despite legal limitations, which I understand,” Herbosa said in a statement. “However, it’s good to know they (PRC and Board of Nursing) are with me to find the solutions to the 4,500 unfilled nurse items in DOH hospitals.”
The Board of Nursing also provided suggestions on how the problem of outward migration of Philippine nurses can be solved, the Health chief added.
“I am thankful that Department of Labor and Employment Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma and PRC Commissioner Charito Zamora are all very supportive of finding legal ways to solve our health manpower problems,” he said.
Herbosa proposed tapping board-eligible nurses who received a grade of 70 to 74 percent in the nursing licensure examination. A test taker must score a 75% rating with no grade below 60% in any subject to pass the country’s licensure exam.
But Zamora said Thursday there is no provision in the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002 or Republic Act 9173 that allows the PRC or any government agencies to issue temporary licenses to nursing graduates who failed the licensure examination.
These non-Board-passing nurses would be under the direct supervision of registered nurses if they would be allowed to work in hospitals, and all their tasks would be monitored by their supervisors as part of a quality assurance mechanism to ensure patient safety and welfare, Herbosa noted.
Philippine College of Physicians president Dr. Rontgene Solante earlier expressed support for the plan, saying nursing graduates who have yet to pass the board examination already possess the skills of a nurse and are competent enough to do nursing work after graduation.
Solante added that such a move will encourage nursing graduates working in other industries like call centers and tourism to practice their profession.
In May 2023, the PRC reported about 14,000 examinees took the licensure test for nurses, and about 10,764, or 74.94 percent, passed.