President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to address the shortage of nurses in the country due to migration.
"We have to be clever about the healthcare manpower. Our nurses are the best, buong mundo na ang kalaban natin dito. Lahat ng nakakausap kong President, Prime Minister, ang hinihingi is more nurses from the Philippines," the President said during a meeting with the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) Healthcare Sector group in Malacanang Palace on Wednesday, March 29.
Marcos also pointed out that the shortage has been affecting the healthcare system in the country.
In response, CHED Chairperson Prospero de Vera III assured that it has already taken actions including retooling board non-passers, implementing nursing curriculum with exit credentials, diverting non-practicing nurses, and conducting exchange programs with other nations are already underway.
"Under the nursing curriculum with exit credentials, students could have several options: exit at the end of Level I or II, obtain the certificate or diploma in Nursing, or choose to continue and finish the four-year nursing program to become a registered nurse," the chairperson said.
Meanwhile, according to Officer-in-Charge Undersecretary Rosario Vergeire, the Department of Health (DOH) is also assessing the status of proposed legislation on the Magna Carta for Public Health Care Workers and the Philippine Nursing Act, as well as conducting a study on the standardization of salaries of nurses, doctors, and healthcare workers.
During the meeting, it was also decided that the PSAC will monitor emerging healthcare technologies that may be deployed in geographically distant and disadvantaged communities and suggest them to the DOH and PhilHealth.
The PSAC will also investigate the viability of creating remote diagnostics centers and evaluate new medical technology and its associated expenses.
