
Hi! my name is Marc, 26 years old, a certified registered nurse. I want to share with you my life and story, not as who I am personally but, my life as Registered Nurse. My path as a nurse started when I decided to take Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing after graduating from high school. I got interested in nursing knowing that I will have an opportunity to work abroad and earn decent of money. I know it’s not just me who thought of this when we were in college, our primary goal at that time was to go abroad, and serving our country first was not yet in our minds at that time… am I right? Four years, I spent my life as a student nurse, encountering lots of trials which made my desire to become a registered nurse even stronger. There were a situations where I had to go to class even though our group just finished the graveyard shift, but despite of those sacrifices, we were willing to endure it just because becoming a registered nurse and going abroad was our main goal.
After graduation, I thought that my life will become smoother and becoming a nurse is easy, but I was wrong. I just realized that was just the beginning of my trials to become a nurse. I had my review at one of the most prestigious review centers here in Manila. The reviewers stated that the true meaning of R.N. (which really meant Registered Nurse) was “Rich Na” because they said that we had the chance to become millionaires due to the big opportunity to work abroad, with the increased demand for nurses in other countries. As the review went on, that statement became my motivation — not just to pass the board the exams and become a successful registered nurse, but also to work abroad.
After passing the board exams, I thought that my dream was within my arms reach. I did not realize that it was just all promises. I applied as a nurse volunteer which was a requirement by the government, and also so I can be “absorbed” by the hospital. However, applying for a volunteer position took months just to be called because of the “first come, first served” policy in our country. After the long wait, I was surprised because of we had to pay one thousand three hundred pesos, just to become a volunteer! Working as a volunteer made me thing that we are being abused, because we worked the full 8 hours, even doing the job for the staff, and sometimes relieving them of their responsibilities when they go out for lunch or when they do other things. Then after all that, we were the ones who still paid them instead of us being paid, or at least given allowances, to lessen the burden from our parents.
After finishing my Nurse Volunteer Training, I thought that then I will have the chance for a paid nursing job if I applied at other hospitals. Sadly, there were no job offers for us nurses in these hospitals. What they offered were again Nurse Volunteer positions, and again have to fork out PHP1,000+ pesos.
I tried to find an agency to have a chance to work abroad, however the requirement is a minimum of 2 years experience. But how in this world can we get 2 years working experience as a nurse if there are no job offers for us nurses in the first place? How about the volunteer jobs that I and other freshly registered nurses worked on? they don’t count them as work experience?. If the “PALAKASAN or KAPIT SYSTEM ” is not forbidden in our country, I and my other fellow nurses are doomed.
There are lots of Hospitals out there who are lacking man power, especially nurses. The quality of care for patients are very insufficient. Imagine that the ratio of nurses here in our country are 1:20 to 1:30 nurses per patient, how in this world can one nurse take care of those sick and ill clients?
I hope that the Government gives attention to this. Many Registered Nurses are now on the streets looking for jobs which are not related to their courses. I and those of my colleagues have the same dream — to become a Registered Nurse, and to work and apply their knowledge at a hospital.
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