ILOILO City – Western Visayas was not spared from the shortage of nurses due to migration.
This was according to Dr. Raul C. Alvarez Jr., director IV of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Region 6 and West Visayas State University (WVSU) president, Dr. Joselito Villaruz.
The Philippines is currently experiencing a shortage of nurses which hinders the delivery of effective healthcare in the country. President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Wednesday, March 29, ordered CHED to address the problem.
In response, Alvarez said, together with higher education institutions (HEIs), they are already carrying out interventions especially that one of the top nursing schools in the country is in the city – the WVSU.
“The problem is all over naman. Diri sa Region 6 we do have nursing schools, we have the top nursing school right now in West Visayas State University trying to help address (the problem) but the perspective here, tanan nga regions are experiencing it (shortage of nurses), although mas damo ang aton nursing schools diri,” Alvarez said in an interview with Panay News.
For his part, Villaruz can attest to the problem the shortage of nurses is causing in both private and government hospitals.
He said everyday he is receiving/signing resignation letters from nurses working at the WVSU Medical Center; they are seeking greener pastures abroad.
“Resignations are actually increasing over the months so even government hospitals are in dire need of nurses, not only private hospitals. In government hospitals where partly the salaries are higher, problema pa rin,” Villaruz said.
He revealed a few months ago there were even hospitals in the city that closed some of their wards or departments due to lack of nurses.
“It’s not actually the lack of rooms or admission of our patients. The problem is with the lack of nursing personnel who will man the wards,” Villaruz added.
What are the measures to address the gap?
Four HEIs in the region – two in Negros Occidental and two in Panay Island – are planning to open nursing programs.
CHED central office data showed 19 HEIs in Western Visayas offer nursing programs: 14 are private schools and five are state universities and colleges (SUCs) and local universities and colleges (LUCs).
Alvarez said together with the technical working group, they are finding ways to hire more faculty members to teach nursing programs so that more nursing students will be catered.
In WVSU, Villaruz said they based the number of nursing students they are accepting on the absorptive capacity and resources.
He added they cannot accept more applicants because they prioritize the quality of education.
“We can only accept a quota that we can accommodate, otherwise the quality will suffer,” he said.
Why is theres shortage of nurses?
CHED chairperson Prospero De Vera explained that in 2010 to 2011, due to high production of nurses in the country, the commission imposed a moratorium on nursing programs with concern on the quality of nurses being produce.
The enrollment for nursing program picked up just last 2018 and 2019.
De Vera note the significant increase in the number of nursing enrollees and graduates did not reflect on number of board passers.
“If we can improve the delivery of education just like West Visayas State University that practically all who graduated passed the licensure exam, ang laki ng percent, ilang thousands of new nurses ang ma-pro-produce. Malaki ‘yong gap eh. Kahit tumataas ‘yong enrollment, the rate of increase of the passers is not as high. Makikita mo ‘yong gap,” he said.
He believes an improvement in the HEIs’ delivery of nursing programs will address the wide gap between the number of nursing graduates and board passers.
He added that HEIs need to implement a better review system, assist the students to close the gap and produce more nurses.
Moreover, the CHED commissioner opined that there’s also a need for HEIs to implement better tracking system to know where are the nursing graduates who did not pass the licensure examination so they could offer refresher courses or special reviews for them to pass the board examination, or train them to become nursing aides or nursing assistants.
CHED data showed that 51 percent of nurses produced in the country preferred to work abroad and only 49 percent stay to serve the country.
However, De Vera emphasized that not all these 49 percent work at the health facilities.
“What you will do with the 49 percent? Not all of them are working in health facilities, so we have to target those who are not working in facilities. We can create a pathway for them to go to the health facilities,” he said.
De Vera was in the city on Thursday, March 30, to lead a forum dubbed as “Dialogue with CHED Chairman De Vera”.
The activity was an on-site meeting of all heads and presidents, as well as campus administrators with the CHED chairman.
The event also served as a venue for HEIs to ask questions and clarification regarding the various issues and concerns confronting them./PN
