This has to be the best news ever. I mean really. I have friends and peers who have been waiting for this day for a very very very long time. I hope this actually gets enacted in the near future. I hope the government realizes how important this is.
I don’t know if anyone of you ever noticed but teachers and nurses are required to get professional licenses and yet they cannot charge professional fees. Ye? Maybe after this, the teachers would go next. :)
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Nurses’ salary to increase — Angara
Published : Sunday, March 11, 2012
A BILL seeking to increase the monthly salary of nurses and further protect the nursing profession was filed in the House of Representatives.
House Bill 5780, authored by Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara, once enacted into law will give nurses monthly pay equivalent to Salary Grade 15 or about P14,000.
The bill intends to amend Republic Act 9173 or Nursing Act of 2002.
Angara said that the minimum base pay of nurses in public and private health and health-related institutions should be in accordance with prevailing salary standards set by law for professionals.
The bill mandates the hospitals and other medical institutions to provide incentives and benefits to the nurses.
At present, a nurse is receiving a monthly salary of only P5,000 to P7,000 in government and private hospitals while those working in clinics and small privately owned hospitals are getting P4,000.
Angara said the quantity of Filipino nurses has been inversely proportional to the quality of education provided by nursing schools in the country.
Based on records, when Republic Act 9173 was enacted into law, there were only around 251 schools but now the country has 491 nursing schools.
Records also showed that from 2000 to 2010, there were about 2,668,046 enrollees in nursing schools nationwide with only 491,900 graduates and 365,625 passing the nursing licensure examinations.
Angara said that the Nurse Licensure Examination (NLE) results show an alarming decline in the annual national passing percentage. It reached an all-time low of 35.26% in December 2010 NLE with only 29,711 passes out of 84.287 examinees.
“We have an oversupply of nurses and yet we are still far from achieving the ideal nurse to patient ration of 1:4 per shift. The Philippine General Hospital has a nurse to patient ratio of 1:15-26 per shift while Davao del Sur has a province-wide ration of 1:44-45 per shift. Clearly, there is an urgent need for reforms,” Angara said.
Under the bill, the National Nursing Career Progression Program which will be created will get the funding from the annual appropriation act, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes, the Philippine Amusement and Games Corp., and the Professional Regulation Commission.
“The bill will expand the roles and responsibilities of nurses that focus on specialized and more advanced practice in the various health care settings and not just primary health care service. Jester Manalastas
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Side note:
I added a new page here in the bloggity as we prepare for another giveaway! Come on you guys. :) You know you want to join so click follow at the footer now! :)
the salt of your skin 
this bill is against nurses, the RA 9173 mandates provide a basic salary of 22,000, not 5-7,000 only, cong. angara should study first the situation before passing a bill
Thanks for the input, Paulo! I am still completely overjoyed by the news that I immediately clicked share without doing a thorough background check. :)
To be frank, I have not seen the complete transcript of HB 5780, but I did look at RA 9173. You’re right about the Grade 15, however from how it was stated, that salary grade appears to apply only to those working in the public sector. If I may:
Art. VII Sec 32 Salary. In order to enhance the general welfare, commitment to service and professionalism of nurses the minimum base pay of nurses working in the public health institutions shall not be lower than salary grade 15 prescribes under Republic Act No. 6758, otherwise known as the “Compensation and Classification Act of 1989”: Provided, That for nurses working in local government units, adjustments to their salaries shall be in accordance with Section 10 of the said law.
From what I can derive from the article, what Angara seems to aim to put an effect on includes the private sector that more often than not grossly underestimates the value of service given by nurses. My partner/manfriend used to work for a private hospital (one of the top ones too), and his wage is just about P80 above minimum wage. Each payday, the minimum wage earner takes home more than he does because he has tax liabilities on top of other dues.
I’m hoping to get a copy of the house bill just to confirm my assumptions. And should my interpretation turn out to be wrong, I’d be more than happy to eat my share of humble pie. :)
Thanks for visiting! You definitely made me go back on my toes. :)