NURSING PLANS President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the Private Sector Advisory Council-Healthcare Sector Group discuss the updates on measures to ensure an adequate number of nurses in the country at a Palace meeting on Wednesday, June 19, 2024. PCO PHOTO
By Jaimes R. C. Sumbilon
The Private Sector Advisory Council-Healthcare Sector Group (PSAC-HSG) announced on Wednesday that the government is working to address the demand for more nurses both domestically and in countries looking to hire Filipino healthcare professionals.
During a meeting at the Malacañan Palace, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. convened with the PSAC-HSG and other relevant agencies to review their progress on recommendations for creating a resilient and responsive healthcare system.
“Just happy to say Mr. President that we continue building momentum for what we call clinical care associates program. The CCA program as you might recall is our attempt to help the thousands of underboard nurses, people who have graduated from nursing degree, but for one reason or another, they did not pass the test during their time,” PSAC Healthcare Sector Lead Paolo Borromeo said.
“And with the CHED’s leadership and guidance, with Chair Popoy’s championship, we developed the program to encourage both public sector and the private sector to look for the nursing underboards in their respective institutions and to try to enroll them in a review program so that they can take the test, which the next one I believe is in November," he added.
Borromeo, who is also the president and CEO of Ayala Healthcare Holdings Inc., shared that the first batch of 457 clinical care associates (CCAs) has been matched to seven higher educational institutions (HEIs) for board reviews. This initiative is part of a continuous effort to increase the number of qualified nurses in the country, addressing both local needs and the international demand for Filipino healthcare professionals.
The PSAC official also disclosed that recruitment is currently underway for the second batch of CCAs, who will be prepared for the May 2025 board examinations. This continuous recruitment, Borromeo said, aims to meet the budgeted target of 1,000 CCAs, ensuring a steady pipeline of nursing professionals.
Borromeo stressed that the addition of 457 nurses, assuming they all pass their board examinations, would significantly strengthen the country's nursing workforce, demonstrating the broader commitment to improving healthcare services and addressing the critical shortage of nurses.
"We continue to look for more CCAs around the country. It’s a work in progress," Borromeo said.
Since 2022, records indicate an increase in nursing board passers compared to pre-Covid years, attributed to a recalibrated curriculum. An Enhanced Master’s Degree in Nursing Program is also set for rollout, piloting in 17 HEIs by August this year.
Borromeo said that these efforts complement ongoing inter-agency collaborations, including bilateral labor agreements, the Balik Nurse Program and initiatives by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for credit transfers.
To address the shortage of nursing educators, a one-year accelerated master’s program in Nursing, facilitated with CHED’s support, aims to enhance teaching personnel production.
Meanwhile, the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Migrant Workers are negotiating bilateral agreements with countries willing to subsidize Filipino nursing students' education, potentially hiring them in the future.
Stakeholders are also exploring options with local government units (LGUs) to implement initiatives such as the adopt-a-hospital program and other measures aimed at alleviating the nursing shortage.
For instance, ongoing collaborations with Austria involve planning caravans to gather essential information and provide ad hoc assistance to hospitals and training facilities, alongside efforts to set up lasting training partnerships between Austrian hospitals and their LGU counterparts.
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