The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is now accepting applications for the second batch of nurses who will be trained and work in rural areas in Eastern Visayas under the government’s program Nurses Assigned in Rural Services (NARS) program.

Regional director Forter Pugion said that DOLE will need 600 nurses to be deployed in the different areas in Easter Visayas. DOLE would later add additional slots as many municipalities in Eastern Visayas need the service of nurses.

Nurses will be deployed in various community hospitals, clinics and health centers for six months. Nurses under NARS program are paid a minimum of Php8,000 a month.

Pugion said that NARS program was part of the government’s effort to enerate jobs for unemployed workers to mitigate the impact of global financial crisis on the Filipino workforce.

As with the first batch, new applicants who qualify would be deployed in their hometowns in rural areas to undergo training in public health services and clinical functions under the guidance of allied hospitals and other medical facilities.

“The purpose (of Nars) is to enable them (applicants) to be in a better position to get employed through this specialized training,” Puguon said.

“Nurses interested in the program should be 35 years old and below, must have a valid nurse license issued by the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC), must be a resident of a Nars-beneficiary municipality and has had no nursing-related practice for one to three years,” Pugion added.

The DOLE had managed to deploy 488 nurses in 113 of the 115 identified beneficiary-municipalities.

While the DOLE has allocated 575 slots for the region at five nurses for each qualified municipality, he explained that two towns did not have an applicant while the others had less than five applicants.

Towns of Jipapad in Eastern Samar and Silvino Lobos in Northern Samar still have the more number of slots since there are still no recorded applicants yet.