Nurses in call centers
By renzoray
@renzoray (59)
March 31, 2010 10:06pm CST
The Nurses Licensure exams was released a few months ago. A number of unemployed nurses is adding up year by year. To add to that are the number of nursing graduates from the different nursing schools in our country. Despite the large number of graduates, there is very little opportunity for our nurses. The sad part is, the parents spend so much for enrollment, projects, tuition, etc, but the return of investment is too small. Imagine receiving 5-6 thousand pesos per month if you are employed in a private hospital? I am sad by that thought. Government hospitals provide a higher salary but very slight opportunities to be employed. All is politics when it comes to government.
That is why a lot of our nurses opt to work in a call center where the salary and benefits are huge. Who wouldnt especailly nowadays where everything is so expensive and everything seems to have a price? How about you? What do you think of nurses working in a call center?
5 responses
@jpso138 (7851)
• Philippines
1 Apr 10
Yes I have noticed that there are a lot of nurses working in call centers nowadays. Among those that have graduated this year, I have noticed that the greatest number are nurses. This goes to show that many people have taken the nursing course as compared to other courses. Sad to note that there is not enough vacancies in the hospitals to work for... and if ever there are, the pay is very low. We must consider that the nursing profession is a very noble profession and that taking a nursing course would require a lot of expenses. We really cannot blame our nurses going abroad to look for a higher pay and working in any other kind of work to support and perhaps be compensated for all the efforts and expenses that they have incurred during studies.
@agv0419 (3022)
• Philippines
1 Apr 10
There are lack of opportunities here, nurses can be a medical transcriptionist which is related to their field rather than to work in call centers. I'm not against in working in call centers but nurses should be not working there because they study to become a nurse and it going to be wasted if they going to work there.
@renzoray (59)
•
1 Apr 10
I agree with you jpso138 that majority of our nursing graduates are now working in a call center because of the fact that there is now very little opportunity to work not just in hospitals but also in schools as a clinical instructor, and in companies as a company nurse. Medical transcriptionist, as mentioned by you agv0419, is an option. What is good about this is that it is related to the field of nursing. Hey, why not? I know of someone who has a daughter working as a medical transcriptionist for quite some time now and she happens to be a nurse. Any other feedbacks out there about working as a transcriptionist? Is the salary good?
@ybong007 (6643)
• Philippines
8 Apr 10
Lets just accept the fact that you don't need to have a special course before you get hired at a call center. Nurses are the most common because, there are a lot of graduates in this particular course. We should also take into account that there are other college graduates who end up working at call centers. It's not only the nurses that suffer from the lack of opportunities in this country who end up working in a call center. The reality is, the call center industry is what keeps our graduates from ending up jobless right after graduation the good news is some of those who work in this industry are being paid more than the average employee.
@ybong007 (6643)
• Philippines
8 Apr 10
Call centers are good venues for nurses to practice their communication skills. We can't deny that majority of the nurses want to work abroad especially the western countries. Having a good command of the English language makes them more competitive in their profession in the future. A lot of nurses use call centers as training ground before getting a job at a hospital to the gain experience which is a requirement before they will be hired abroad. The good thing is, they get paid more at call centers.
@ybong007 (6643)
• Philippines
10 Apr 10
That's correct renzoray. However, it's not only limited to nurses. There are a lot of college graduates who are now working at call centers because it's the only remaining industry where you don't need a specialization to get hired. All you need is good english communication skills to get a job. Even under graduates can get hired in this industry. You don't need to resort to asz kissing just to get a job unlike in a government agency. And the good thing is, they are paid handsomely.
@advokatku (4033)
• Indonesia
1 Apr 10
nurses work in the company's call centers? OMG .... was wasted so many years she studied at the academy nurse but later worked in corporate call centers. I have one question, what should not the nurses work at hospital foreign country, perhaps this could be a temporary solution ... is not it?
@renzoray (59)
•
3 Apr 10
Yes that is a good solution. The reason why a lot of our nurses choose to work in hospitals of other countries is because it is only there where they could find a good salary. But the dilemma is, nurses invest on a huge amount of money for state board exams, english proficiency exams, placement fees, and travel expenses just so they good find a decent job abroad.
@candyfairy21 (2039)
• Philippines
1 Apr 10
One thing I have seen is that most of these students are not really for nursing. I have been a nursing instructor for sometime now and reasons why there is an overflow of nursing students in nursing schools is because they want to go out of the country. I'm not saying that is wrong however, nursing is a vocation. No amount of money could buy your heart and dedication in serving other people, people who are demanding because they are sick.If you're in it for the wrong reasons you will never be happy in this job because it takes all of you to provide the quality of care, more than your own need.
Nurses are also underpaid, there must be something that the PNA could do to solve this issue other than collecting annual membership fees from nurses. Though nursing is a vocation we also need to feed our bellies and provide for our personal and our family's needs. We loose our best nurses simply because the pay is way too low. I have spent so much when I was studying more than what I am being paid right now.
There is nothing wrong with working in a call center as long as it is a job that is decent. We all have needs and you can't meet those needs simply by waiting in line to be hired. Schools have no right to tell the students what to do and what not to do, if they could provide jobs then good if not they should shut up.
@renzoray (59)
•
1 Apr 10
Very well said candyfairy21. I admire your passion and the way you see nursing as a vocation. For yes indeed, one has to have the heart and not just the knowledge and skills to care for a patient. One has to be competent and compassionate in order to give quality nursing care. And if nursing is a vocation, then there has to be a "calling". A calling to serve the needy and the sick ones. Sadly, a lot of our nurses are serving the sick of other nationalities rather than our own simply because of the higher pay. We cannot blame them. As you said, we all have needs.
Anybody here who is an officer of the PNA? Could you enlighten us please of the objectives of the PNA? Nurses are paying annual fees in the PNA, where does the money go?
@greyz7 (859)
• Philippines
8 Apr 10
hi,
Nurses are proliferating at call centers because they cannot find a job in the hospital that they would be compensated..really frustrating.
@renzoray (59)
•
9 Apr 10
Thats true greyz27. So rather than just staying jobless, they might as well work in a company that offers a good pay even if it is quite far from their field of studies. Call centers are also a good way of developing the English language and a nice venue to develop your personality.
