A recent report from the US National Council of
State Boards of Nursing revealed that there was a marked drop in the number of
Filipino nurses that took the National Council Licensure Examination for
Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) for the first time from January to September of
this year. Statistics show that only 4,354 Filipino nurses took NCLEX-RN
representing a drop of 44 percent as statistics of the same period last year
showed 7,780 Filipino NCLEX takers.

The said numbers could be an indication that the
number of Filipino nurses who wants to work in America is declining. A party list
representative, Arnel Ty added that from July to September, only 1,370 Filipino
nurses took NCLEX-RN for the first time. Ty said that that is 38 percent or
857, fewer versus the 2,227 in the same three-month period in 2010.

Ty also said that the Philippines
remain to be the top potential supplier of foreign nurses in America. However the bad news is
that the America’s
demand for foreign nurses is also declining.

Ty said, “The US labor market for foreign nurses is
shrinking. America
itself is producing more nurses, and fewer healthcare service providers there
are making new hires in light of continuing government subsidy cutbacks,"
Ty said.

The nursing profession is currently plagued with
unemployment and underemployment problems. According to records of the
Professional Regulation Commission, about 290,000 registered nurses are
unemployed as of March 31.The 37,000 successful examines of July licensure
examination is not yet included in the stats.

To solve the unemployment of nursing in the Philippines,
the Philippine government plans to expand the “Doctors to the Barrio
Program" of the Department of Health next year. The government plans to
allot a budget of 1.686 billion for this program that would provide temporary
jobs to nurses and midwives in the rural areas where health services are poor.

The party list representative also filed House Bill
No. 4582. This proposed bill does not only give temporary jobs to Filipino nurses,
but also allows them to acquire the extra skills that they need to be better
qualified for local and overseas job opportunities.

The said bill intends plans to expand the government
program for nurses in 2009, “Nurses Assigned in Rural Service." The bill
seeks to install a Special Program for the Employment of Nurses in Urban and
Rural Services (NURSE), with a goal to mobilize a total of 10,000 practitioners
every year.

The proposed program would give qualified nurses
six-month tour of duty and they would receive a monthly allowance not lower
than the amount commensurate to Salary Grade 15, the higher starting pay for
public nurses mandated by a 2002 law.