Let nurses run for Congress.
Nurses belonging to Nurses United Party-List issued this call to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday, Nov. 22.
"Nurses and health workers are called heroes but we have not been valued. Our salaries remain low. It is disheartening that even our unpaid COVID-19 benefits did not prompt DOH to allot funds for our COVID-19 benefits for the year 2022. Let nurses run for Congress so that the voice of nurses can be heard,” Maristela Abenojar, president of Nurses United Party-List, said in a statement.
The group said nurses which represent the largest workforce of Philippine health care, are essential and vital in the health system.
It added that seven out of ten health workers and professionals are nurses.
"Nurses are the first faces a patient will see when he or she rushes to the emergency room, a health center or a Rural Health Unit. Nurses are the last persons patients talk to before going home to their loved ones from the hospital, or who hold their hands as they breathe their last. Nurses are there 24/7 with their patients when they are admitted in the hospital – with or without pandemic. Nurses are also the ones who provide health education and conduct health programs in the communities," said Abenojar.
She added that out of 28,103 health workers recorded by the DOH who contracted COVID-19, nurses account for more than 10,000 of these and many, too, have died.
"Sadly, nurses’ conditions remain the same – work that even exceed 12 hours, 15-20 COVID patients per shift, lack of adequate PPE, low salaries and benefits, contractual positions, ‘no work, no pay’ when sick or during quarantine, understaffing, and more," Abenojar said.
“Therefore, our voices must be heard in the policy-making processes that will uplift our social, mental, economic and physical condition. Fulfilled nurses and health workers can best serve patients in hospitals, clinics and communities and help the country realize a health system that is truly compassionate and nurturing to nurses, health workers, and the Filipino people,” she added.