Pinoy Nurses Seeking US Jobs are Becoming Few...

"ONZE LIEVE VROUW" a nursing home two blocks away from the university.

They cater for dementia patients and almost 100 elderly residents with fully furnished rooms until 3rd floor that is therapeutically managed.

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The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) yesterday said the number of Filipino nurses who have sought employment in the United States during the first quarter of 2009 has gone down by 10.5percent.

Citing records of the US National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX), TUCP secretary-general and former senator Ernesto Herrera said that from January to March this year, a total of 4,194 Filipino nurses took the test for the first time.

But during the same period last year, the number of first-time NCLEX examinees reached 4,686. For 2008, the number of first-time examinees was 20,746 or 3.5 percent lower compared to the 21,499 examinees in 2007.

“It is quite possible that the severe global economic downturn, which has hit America hard, has somewhat dampened for now the desire of some Filipino nurses to seek employment there,” Herrera said.

Herrera, however, said the US healthcare industry as a whole and hospitals there have been continuously hiring staff, “while other industries have been throwing out workers.”

He added that while some 5.1 million workers have been displaced in the US since the recession in December 2007, the healthcare sector still managed to create 30,000 new jobs every month in 2008.

Herrera underscored the need for nursing students to specialize in geriatric nursing or the provision of nursing services to the elderly to enable them to pursue their profession.

“The populations of America, Japan and other industrialized countries are getting very old. There is tremendous demand now for geriatric nurses,” he said.

Herrera added that if the country would continue to produce and export nurses, “we might as well make our programs highly responsive to the demands of the global market.”

“This way, fresh nursing graduates would readily obtain gainful employment overseas,” he said, warning that the huge oversupply of nurses is keeping their wages in the local front “even more depressed.”

“We now have more than half a million nurses looking for jobs, including the 67,220 who passed the local licensure examinations in July 2008 and February this year,” he added.

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I think this article depicts what really is necessary for us nurses to take actions of our unemployment. I did a tour in one of the nursing homes here where I have applied and I will be doing an evaluation work next week. I was very surprised how dementia patients were catered, I have no idea at all, even a bed bath because it was completely a different set-up. Thats the time where I saw that doors are automatic and bathtubs can be reversibly movable..huh!..

I had my interview with three respectable people, the head nurse, the director of the nursing home, and the assistant director...It was a very difficult interrogation but they have asked me to try out first...If it doesnt go, there are still a lot of nursing homes but I will show them how Filipinos take care of patients that they for years have never done.

Can we create our own destiny?

What do you think?

Last couple of days, Rand has been asking me to write out something for our blog. I answered him, "Rand, I forgot the account name and password that you gave to me thats why i cant post.", I thought I made the right reason. But I'm wrong, he gave me the account name and the password. Which leads me to another problem, that really blogs me off...that is...WHAT TO WRITE!!!...
To help me start with a topic, I started asking myself several questions. Something inspirational? news? experiences? sports? science?
Only one question remains.This a question on which men and women have pondered together for centuries. And this is a question which does not carry a straightforward answer. But as we go slightly deep to the surface quite a few explanations do come out.

Fate, destiny, resignation – they all seem to be synonyms up to a certain point. But, what if your whole life you’ve been a fighter and simply refuse to surrender in a certain situation? Can we rebel against our own destiny? Can we truly decide the way that we are going to follow in life?

These are all questions with no definite or final answer, but nevertheless, everything related to this matter also depends on our determination, our strength to defeat the obstacles we meet before reaching the ultimate aspiration.

A lot of people, who have been remarkably good at doing something during their lives, including business, sports, science etc, confess that fate seemed to be against them at the beginning and even throughout their career.

Most of them lived completely different lives before being successful and they are proud to remember those times.

It was indeed hard, most of them say, but they wanted to get to the top badly; nothing could have held them back from getting where they wanted. They also admit that they never dared to dream they would be so famous or successful in the future.

All these facts make us wonder, whether an apparently pre-established destiny can be modified or completely changed, if we manage to prove we really want something and we are determined to go all the way to get it, no matter what. And if we indeed can change fate, to whom should we demonstrate what we’re capable of?

Could there be a way to modify the data, which composes the famous book of life, just as easy as correcting something on a computer? And if that is true, how do we know that there wasn’t a mistake in the first place, and our determination does not do more than correct it?

Obviously, all that was presented before represents suppositions. Nevertheless, since there are different people who testify that their lives changed, this increases our confidence that we can do it too.

If we can’t control our destiny, we can, at least, contribute to what’s happening to us during our existence.

Maybe, although we were supposed to have a less fortunate destiny, if we treat others the right way, if we are always honest and always mind the truth, somehow bad fate will go around us, showing us that we can make our own destiny.
On the other hand, we cannot help wondering what happens to a person who starts off with a wonderful destiny, but during his or her life commits a series of unpardonable mistakes.

Will that destiny change?

Could it be true that we actually get the destiny we deserve? Persons who suffer tremendously for having lost somebody dear to them or persons born with a disease or a handicap, will answer no! There are a lot of innocent people in pain, so the theory that we get what we deserve is not always accurate.

But what if we have to pay for the errors others committed? Would that make us think deeper before carrying out something we are not really proud of, fearing that some innocent human being will pay, in the future, for our present actions?

There is no doubt that opinions are split when it comes to such a subject. However, meditating on this kind of themes helps us understand ourselves better and, hopefully, gets us closer to appreciating our fate and destiny.

Lavilla starts as Nurse in the Barrio

A nice hit this summer for BSN4D Alumnus Jan Mark Lavilla, 22, diagnosed with Type I DM will be as a barrio nurse starting his hitching ride in San Carlos. Correspondent Dexie N. confirmed Thursday (8PM - Pacific/Manila) that the said procedure consist of 3 months hospital exposure and 3 months mountainous journey. This was unveiled based facts as she had a one-on-one with JM as she was in charge for a family member who was admitted at the General Surgery Ward.

The NARS program of the Arroyo administration is supposed to be a “stop-gap measure" against unemployment amid the global financial crisis. Under it, at least five nurses will be sent to each of the 1,000 poorest towns in the Philippines and will be paid at least P8,000 monthly for one whole year.

As BSN4D onced tagged Lavilla having the "community nurse characteristic" especially the "face" as Oliver was always stressing, this was not an easy decision to made as Lavilla have declared that he had a great time in GS Ward for 10 months and was so hesitant to leave the said institution. With an 8000 pesos per month and an experience that is practically a memory, the mountainous region of Negros Occidental is truly a gift for an experience that is worth more than the skills of an
expert critical nurse.