Filipino nurses' workaholic nature is sadly the main reason why a lot of them have died abroad from COVID-19.
Anakalusugan party-List Rep. Mike Defensor gave this assessment Sunday amid reports that up to 30 percent of the nurses in the United States who have succumbed to COVID-19 were Filipinos.
“Filipino nurses in America, for instance, won’t hesitate to perform additional work on weekends and holidays, or to work the graveyard shift, when their co-workers would prefer to be off duty,” Defensor said.
“This is why they tend to be more exposed to the hazard of catching the coronavirus disease,” added Defensor, a vice chairperson of the House Committee on Health.
According to the National Nurses United, the largest nurses’ union in America, 74 of the 245 nurses who have died of the coronavirus disease in the US as of November were Filipinos. The US has the highest number of COVID infections in the world, with over 17.6 million cases recorded.
“It is not unusual for a Philippine-educated nurse in California or Texas to be on call by two or even three hospitals. They make themselves available when needed, such as when co-workers are suddenly unable to report for work. So they really are more exposed,” the congressman said in reaction to the figures.
It is because of this exceptional work ethic and dedication that Filipino nurses in America and the world over are knowingly bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic, he noted.
“Many Filipino nurses abroad started out by working and living alone – away from their family and friends here. This tends to build character as they are forced to rely on their core values in order to survive. The fact that Filipino nurses in foreign lands are getting rewarded generously (by their employers) merely reinforces their belief that what they are doing must be good,” Defensor explained.
Defensor authored House Bill (HB) No.7933, which seeks to double to P60,901 the entry-level monthly pay for Philippine government nurses to discourage at least some of them from seeking greener pastures abroad.
American TV talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres recently gifted a Filipino nurse in Los Angeles, Flor Maylyn Roz, with a brand-new SUV in recognition of her role as a frontliner in the fight against COVID-19.
The British ambassador to the Philippines, Daniel Pruce, also lauded Filipino nurses in the United Kingdom’s National Health Service for their huge role in battling the pandemic.