The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced that they will be offering job opportunities for nurses residing in the provinces of Iloilo and Guimaras thru the Nurses Assigned in Rural Service (NARS) program.

The second batch of nurse-trainees to be hired under the NARS program will be assigned in 32 poorest municipalities of the provinces of Iloilo and Guimaras. The government is set to deploy a total of 160 nurses. The Senior Labor and Employment Officer of DOLE –Iloilo, Nelia Mabilog, informed that recruitment will start on October 1, 2009.

Mabilog said, "The application is still on-going and interested qualified applicants can register online at http//www.nars.dole.gov.ph.”

To be considered for this government program that trains and employs unemployed nurses to various municipalities of the Philippines, applicants need to possess the qualifications specified below. Usual duration of employment is six months.

Requirements:

• 35 years old and below
• Board passer with a valid nurse license issued by the Philippine Regulations Commission(PRC)
• No nursing-related practice for the past three years.

Those who will be accepted by the program are entitled to receive a monthly stipend worth Php 8,000. They are expected to render public health services and and perform essential clinical tasks. The training they will gain from the NARS program are supposed to increase their potential to de deployed in in local hospitals and in due course in health institutions out of the country.

According to Mabilog, priority will be given to nurses who were not able to join the first batch of 160 nurses that were hired in the provinces of Iloilo and Guimaras

The NARS program was initiated by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo last February. It is a joint project of the DOLE, the Department of Health and the Professional Regulations Commission's Board of Nursing.