A senator reiterated his call for the passage of Senate Bill (SB) 191 or the Advanced Nursing Education Act, which seeks to update the country’s nursing curriculum and training methods to meet the demands of modern healthcare practices.

In a news release on Monday, Senator Christopher Lawrence Go said nursing education in the country has long been acknowledged as a strong foundation for producing competent and compassionate healthcare professionals.

Go said the proposed measure seeks to protect and improve the nursing profession by instituting measures that will result in relevant nursing education for better career prospects and a dignified existence for our nurses.

“At mayroon din po akong nai-file sa Senado itong Advanced Nursing Education Bill para po sa karagdagang curriculum upang mahikayat natin silang magtrabaho dito sa ating bansa, sa Pilipinas. Maisama po ang iba pang curriculum, ‘yung community integration at immersion po, karagdagang kaalaman din iyon (I have filed in the Senate Advanced Nursing Education Bill for the additional curriculum to encourage them to work here in the country, in the Philippines. Other curricula will will be included, the community integration and immersion, which are additional knowledge),” he explained.

SB 191 will require the establishment of standard basic and graduate programs for nursing education, to be established in Commission on Higher Education — accredited institutions of higher learning.

Students will also be mandated to undergo community integration and immersion to encourage them to work in various communities.

Meanwhile, a graduate program will be built on the experiences and skills of nurses towards mastery, expertise and leadership in practice, research and education.

In an ambush interview in Naga City, Camarines Sur on Saturday, Go also called for additional benefits and incentives for nurses to encourage them to remain in the country.

“Dapat po ay bigyan natin sila ng tamang kompensasyon para hindi na sila umalis na po, mangibang bansa dahil naintindihan ko naman na kailangan nilang magtrabaho sa ibang bansa dahil napakalaki talaga ng sweldo, ng diperensya ng sweldo dito sa ating bansa kumpara po sa ibang bansa. So, the more na dapat nating tulungan ang ating mga nurses (We should give them enough compensation so they will not leave the country because I understand that they need to work there considering the higher salary. So, the more that we should help our nurses),” he said.

Go authored and co-sponsored Republic Act 11466 or the SSL5 in 2019 to give nurses and other civilian government employees their fifth round of salary increases broken down in tranches.

In a public hearing recently conducted by the Senate Committee on Sustainable Development Goals, Innovation and Futures Thinking, the Department of Health reported that an estimated 10 percent or 13,467 qualified health workers migrate to other countries annually.

From 1990 to 2017, a total of 156,605 nurses were labeled as temporary migrants and 17,491 were considered as permanent migrants.

The DOH also presented data that showed only 179,818 out of 305,708 licensed nurses in the country are practicing their profession. (PNA)