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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Increase in number of Filipino nurses seen — PSAC

Increase in number of Filipino nurses seen — PSAC

Published Feb 23, 2024 12:21 am

At A Glance

  • Around 300 CCAs had already been hired by various hospitals nationwide. As of Feb. 20, 304 CCAs enrolled from private and public hospitals.

The Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) is optimistic that the Philippines will see an increase in the number of nurses in the country following the launch of the Clinical Care Associates (CCA) Upskilling Program, which aims to address the shortage of nurses locally.

MB file photo nurses.jpg
File photo

The program facilitates the employment of underboard nursing students, allowing them to be certified by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and work as CCAs in healthcare industries.

In a briefing with President Marcos on Thursday, Feb. 22, PSAC Health Sector Lead Paolo Borromeo, around 300 CCAs had already been hired by various hospitals nationwide. As of Feb. 20, 304 CCAs enrolled from private and public hospitals.

To help the CCAs become nurses, Borromeo told Marcos that the CHED allocated P20 million for board reviews of 1,000 CCAs this year.

He added that CCA recruitment will continue for the November 2024 nursing board examination and that the PSAC will also roll out the program for the 2025 board examinations.

“That’s an instant addition to our nursing population. If we are able to fill the seats that Chair Popoy (CHED Chairman Prospero de Vera III) was able to get that’s a thousand CCAs," Borromeo said.

"A thousand CCAs is not a small number in a country where we graduate about 7,000 to 10,000 nurses a year,” he added.

Borromeo, President and CEO of Ayala Healthcare Holdings Inc., said the proponents can roll out the program this year and also next year.

“So, instantly, we have a thousand just like that. So I characterized that as a big win, and I want to commend Chair Popoy for that,” he said.

President Marcos witnessed last year the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the launch of the CCA Program. The MOU was signed by the PSAC-Health together with CHED, the Department of Health (DOH), and the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines, Inc. (PHAPi).

 

 

Quick wins

 

Aside from the CCA program, Borromeo enumerated the other recent quick wins achieved by the Marcos administration in addressing the shortage of nurses in the country through various collaborative public-private programs in the healthcare, overseas welfare, and education sectors.

In particular, Borromeo said the Enhanced Master’s Nursing Program, aimed at producing more nursing instructors in the country, might be rolled out starting the academic year 2024-2025 in 16 higher education institutions (HEIs).

Under the program, CHED shortened the three-year Master’s Nursing Program to just one year to enable those who graduate from the program eligible to teach.

Borromeo also cited the pilot MOU with Austria, which was forged through the help of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

Under the MOU, the Austrian government will provide scholarships and faculty support and back the adopt-a-school/hospital scheme. The PSAC is pushing for the President’s approval of the MOU.

Other PSAC initiatives also include Underboard Certificate Programs, the Balik Nurse Campaign, and the National HRH Masterplan.

Discussions are ongoing between TESDA and CHED for the Underboard Certificate Programs, while PSAC still has to define the program specifics for the Balik Nurse Campaign and will explore a pilot launch in the Middle East.

The PSAC, led by Sabin Aboitiz, President/CEO at Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc., is composed of business leaders and industry experts providing technical advice to the President in achieving the government's economic objectives in six key sectors — agriculture, digital infrastructure, healthcare, infrastructure, jobs generation, and tourism.

Related Tags

PRIVATE SECTOR ADVISORY COUNCIL Paolo Borromeo shortage of nurses Filipino nurses Nursing
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