false volunteering of nurses.

I am a registered nurse here in the Philippines too. So nice to hear right? RN! I stopped working last 2005 thinking my USA visa would be granted. My US immigrant petition had been approved since 2006 yet until now I am still here waiting for my visa. I would like to work again but then yes I will start from scratch, from a volunteer nurse. It's really tough! So many nurses without jobs. Last summer I went to DOLE because I watched in the news that they were giving jobs to 10,000 nurses all over the country. But when I went there, there were only 10 slots for our city. Huh? 10 only? How come? How did they spread the 10,000 vacant jobs if in this big city only 10 positions are available. I don't like the idea of nurses who volunteered their time and effort and still the institutions let them pay for the job. I guess the government is not helping us. We are in the least priority to think we are in demand in the other country. They should be helping us so that we will not look for jobs overseas.

i guess we cannot do something about this issue. i know a few new nursing graduates who paid the said hospital where they volunteered their service in exchange for a certificate or something that they need for them to apply for a job. but there are also some hospitals who do not ask for volunteering fees.

this has been existing for the longest time and well i guess its been a regular practice by these hospitals because they know these student nurses need the hospitals' signature and endorsements. i think the ched along side doh should work on this together.

Hi, katrinapaz. This is terrible! These nurses should be paid for their time! No one wants to work or volunteer without at least being compensated for it. They need to come up with a solution so that no nurses will suffer. Everyone should be given a fair chance.

What's happening to nurses in the Philippines is just a result of law of supply and demand. There's too many nurses but only a few hospitals that it's impossible to accommodate and employ them all. Volunteer work is the easiest thing to do although in reality it's considered a sacrifice on the part of the nurse and a favor given by the hospital. Although there's no one whose at fault except maybe the students who were lured of the amount of money to be had when they finally work abroad, of schools who make it sound very easy to finish the course and that landing a job abroad is just a work in the park, of the government for failure of coming up with ways to make it easier to nurses to work abroad right after graduation...hmm...wait, well it seems that the list is quite long as to who is fault. It turns out that everyone's at fault here . I guess everyone should learn to accept the fact on what their predicaments are and this should warn those who have plans of going after them to be wary and cautious of the sacrifices that awaits them. Letting those nurses do volunteer work seems noble but they have mouths to feed too. However, volunteering should be something right out of the heart and not something you're forced to do and paying just to volunteer sound more noble but in our nurses case this is plain exploitation.

It is indeed a dirty tactic aim at taking advantage on these poor fellows. Of course,everybody wants a fair game, but in a country like Philippines, expect less of it. Many companies (not just in the medical field) are employing practices that takes advantages of their poor workers. What is more lamentable is that the government is not doing anything to limit, if not totally stop, these kind of abuses. Though we condemn these despicable acts, we can do little or nothing at all to change the system. Nursing is a profession unlike engineering or other fields that you can practice outside independently, with or without experience. It is therefore something that those students or would be students need to consider before taking up that course.

Hello katrinapaz. What you have said is true. My bestfriend is a registered nurse and believed me, they have to make volunteer services in any hospital especially the government one that has large number of bed spaces in order for them to have 'points'. In this way, they can already apply for any job hiring abroad. To have to do it in order for them to leave the country and seek greener pastures abroad. So depressing for our country....

I am not a nurse, but I am sure that DOH knows about this volunteer process for nurses to have clinical experience. But, what is amazing and really disturbing is...why do they need to pay. I guess, in that aspect our government should take proper care about this. After paying tuition fees and even pay their reviews to pass and be a registered nurse and here they are still have to pay those hospitals where they are rendering their services for free (this is too much) And...after all those efforts and expenses still there is no assurance that they will get a good job or be hired. This is one reason why we cannot blame our nurses to seek jobs outside our country. have a good day jaiho®

I hope the government will appreciate nurses and give them more opportunities. I am also a registered nurse in the philippines and because of years of volunteer experience without any salary I decided to go abroad. That is why I'm here in al baha. In the philippines it is really hard to get a job and even apply as volunteer nowadays. I just hate those institutions that always get volunteers yet they do not absorb them maybe after years of volunteer you are lucky enough to be staff. Also there is called "palakasan system" especially in government hospitals. Really hard.

This is true and I'm on the same shoes of most nurses suffering from headache. Pain from a work without pay and asked to pay more than a thousand pesos. It broke my heart not to help my family. But I'm still hoping that their is a bright future from this dim light. I trust everything in GOD. GOD BLESS TO OUR NURSING CAREER.

Most hospitals are taking advantage of having oversupply of nurses by putting an expensive fee for redcross / trainings so that they can gain a lot of profit from the students. It's a sad fact that they don't have even salary like on my cousin's case.

I feel sorry for the students who were blinded by the big breaks outside the country. They are not aware that it is not easy to pass all the requirements required by the foreign countries. For me, a graduating high school student should avoid taking up nursing because here in the Philippines, there are a lot of registered nurses who found themselves working in a call center. Nurses are not treated fairly here in the Philippines.

An example of corruption. Its really sad to hear that our professional nurses had to undergo this kind of settings. Hospitals should be the one paying it not the other way around. If this will continue I bet our nurses will abuse.