QUEZON CITY, (PIA) -- The Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Department of Health (DOH), and the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) forged an important partnership that will facilitate the generation of healthcare workers, particularly nurses, amidst the growing demand for medical professionals in the country’s healthcare system.
The said multi-sectoral partnership centers on the implementation of an upskilling program for underboard nursing graduates while they are working on passing the Nurse Licensure Examination (NLE).
The upskilling program will specifically capacitate the underboard nursing graduates to serve as Clinical Care Associates (CCAs) in public and private hospitals to complement and provide support to the current number of registered nurses.
CHED Chairperson Prospero De Vera III and DOH Secretary Teodoro Herbosa signed on Wednesday, July 19, a Joint Administrative Order (JAO) formalizing the Implementing Guidelines for the Nurse Workforce Complementation and Upskilling Program for CCAs.
“This JAO signing is very critical and important because it is one of the several long-term, medium-term, and immediate interventions that we have discussed with the President to address the nursing shortage,” said CHED Chairperson De Vera, citing that the upskilling program aims to increase the 50% passing rate of nursing students in order for them to have the opportunity to join the nursing workforce.
In an effort to augment the nursing manpower, the CHED also lifted the moratorium on the opening of new nursing programs which was previously imposed to address the oversupply of nursing graduates without employment or affiliations.
To date, 54 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have already submitted their applications to offer nursing courses. However, these HEIs can only produce 2,052 additional nursing graduates by 2028 hence the need for these institutions to bolster the upskilling program.
“The government and the private sector need to sit down together and find ways to collaborate to produce solutions immediately. On the part of the Commission, we have mobilized our Higher Education Institutions, with a very good track record in passing the licensure test, to provide review classes,” De Vera added, as he express plans to develop a shorter Master’s program together with HEIs intended for nurses who want to teach in nursing schools as a means to increase enrollment.
The DOH, on the other hand, will lead the implementation of the program towards the effective delivery of the Universal Healthcare Act of 2019 among Filipinos.
At present, there are 201,265 nursing job positions to be filled nationwide which is significantly higher than the 90,205 actual number of deployed nurses in the country. (CHED/PIA-NCR)
