Anakalusugan Rep. Michael Defensor said on Friday that more Filipino nurses are seeking to practice their profession in America.
A total of 5,957 Filipino nurses took the US licensure examination for the first time from January to September 2021.
According to Defensor, based on the figures from the US National Council of State Boards of Nursing Inc., the number is 25 percent higher compared to the 4,758 Philippine nursing graduates that took the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) in the same nine-month period in 2020.
“We expect a large number of Filipino nurses to aspire to move into America’s labor market in the months ahead because of the irresistible lure of high pay. In California, for instance, a registered nurse receives an average of $120,560 (P6.1 million) per year,” Defensor said.
“Right now, there are thousands of unfilled hospital nursing staff vacancies across America,” he added.
Defensor has been urging Congress to pass House Bill 7933, which seeks to nearly double from P33,575 to P60,901 the starting monthly base pay of nurses employed in Philippine government hospitals.
“We are counting on our measure, once enacted, to help dissuade at least some of our nurses, particularly those with strong ties here at home, from going overseas,” he said.
Under Defensor’s bill that seeks to amend the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002, the entry-level pay of government nurses shall be bumped up by six notches to Salary Grade 21.
Some 46 percent of Filipino nurses pass the NCLEX on their first attempt, while around 27 percent of repeaters make the grade.
A total of 218,006 Philippine nursing graduates have taken the NCLEX for the first time since 1994.
According to the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines (PHAP), Filipino nurses have been working overseas with many hospitals losing up to 10 percent of their nursing staff in October alone.