The Department of Health (DOH) will employ nursing graduates who failed their board exams in government hospitals.
In an interview at the DOH central office on Monday, Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa stated that he will recruit approximately half of those who took the board exam but did not pass, specifically those with a 70–74 percent grade.
Non-board passers will be allowed to work in public hospitals under the supervision and with temporary licenses under the legislation, which is endorsed by Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma.
Moreover, non-board-pass candidates will have four years to complete the Philippine Nurse Licensure Examination.
Before they can work abroad, students must sign a four-year return service agreement and work at government hospitals after passing the board exam.
According to Herbosa, the business sector provided subsidies for board review seminars for unlicensed nursing graduates.
Meanwhile, Pangasinan Rep. Maria Rachel Arenas introduced legislation to send health attachés abroad to combat the rise and re-emergence of infectious diseases around the world.
Health attachés would be posted in Philippine embassies and consular offices to offer a "coordinated response" to public health hazards, according to House Bill 8444.
The health attachés will, among other things, provide scientific and policy advice on public health practices, report on health issues in an international setting, and promote global health security and safety.
Global health diplomacy (GHD), according to the law, is barely evident in the Philippines' foreign activities, despite the fact that GHD is "firmly established in the global health lexicon."
The law intends to establish at least 200 health attachés under the auspices of the GHD Office.
