Filipino nurses continue to suffer from ”very low wages,” long working hours, and understaffing, a group said, as it urged the government to take ”concrete and decisive” measures to alleviate their situation.
In a statement, the Filipino Nurses United (FNU) said nurses have to deal with the ”vicious cycle of understaffing,” work overload, and long work hours” and ”very low wages against an increasing standard of living.”
”Presently, the cliche of being overworked and underpaid health workers has never been a grim, sharp, painful reality for our nurses. This situation pushes them further to massive migration, long characterized as diaspora, now with ‘attractive offers’ of bringing along their families and nursing education scholarships with assured employment,” the FNU said on the occasion of International Nurses Day on Sunday, May 12.
”Moreover, there is apparent inadequate government support and a lack of prioritization to public health service budget allocation that incapacitates nurses in performing their tasks or leads to the inadequacies of the healthcare system to respond to the Filipinos’ health needs,” it added.
The FNU said Filipino nurses deserved the highest tribute for their service, adding their ”vital contribution has ”undoubtedly sustained our healthcare systems in caring for our patients and communities.”
”It is high time that concerned government authorities respond with concrete and decisive measures that will rescue nurses from serious concerns, such as the legislation of a just, decent wage increase, mass hiring of qualified nurses, and regularizing contractual nurses to fill up and add more plantilla positions,” the FNU said. — Sherylin Untalan/VBL, GMA Integrated News
