MANILA — Mr Ronald Ignacio became a nurse at the height of the Philippines' nursing boom in 2008, when there were not enough jobs in the health system for the many thousands of newly qualified nurses.
At first, he struggled to find a job, so instead worked on a farm for two years. Mr Ignacio eventually landed a job as a nurse in a private hospital in the capital, Manila, in 2010.Just as Filipino nurses grapple with meagre pay, poor working conditions, and low nurse-to-patient ratios, rich countries have become more aggressive in tempting them abroad.
Without senior nurses to guide them, he said, new hires often quit after a few months due to the excessive workload and low pay, or because of highly appealing job packages abroad. "You studied for four years to become a nurse and worked hard to obtain your license only to get paid a salary that could no longer be called a living wage. Where's justice in that?" Mr Ignacio asked.Since the 1950s, money sent home by nurses abroad has been a big earner for the Philippines economy. At the end of 2021, around a third of the more than 900,000 registered nurses in the Philippines were working abroad, according to the advocacy group Filipino Nurses United.
Ms Jocelyn Andamo, secretary-general of Filipino Nurses United, said that recruitment practices of importing countries had become more creative after the pandemic. "A lot of countries that the UK has looked to recruit from already have worse shortages, and that means that when they lose nurses, it really can have a detrimental impact on the ability of those countries to provide healthcare to their own people," said Mr Catton.
"Is the government really monitoring these bilateral agreements? Perhaps we need to enhance them with greater transparency and cooperation with Filipino nurses' unions and migrant groups to ensure that their concerns are being addressed," she said.Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said the country was"competing with the rest of the world" for its nurses and should immediately address the shortage caused by migration.
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