Mike Defensor

Solon seeks to double pay of nurses, stop mass exodus to US

August 2, 2021 Ryan Ponce Pacpaco 389 views

A TOTAL of 3,550 Philippine-educated nurses seeking to practice their profession in America took the U.S. licensure examination for the first time from January to June this year, said Anakalusugan party-list Rep. Michael Defensor.

The number is up 8.6 percent compared to the 3,269 Philippine nursing graduates that took America’s professional eligibility test, or the NCLEX, for the first time (excluding repeaters) in the same semester in 2020, according to Defensor.

The NCLEX refers to the National Council Licensure Examination administered by the U.S. National Council of State Boards of Nursing Inc.

Passing the NCLEX is usually the final step in America’s nurse licensure process. Thus, the number of Filipinos taking the test for the first time is considered a good indicator as to how many of them are trying to enter the profession in the U.S.

A total of 667 Indians, 560 Puerto Ricans, 492 Kenyans, and 260 Nepalese also took the NCLEX for the first time in the first half of this year.

In the past, hundreds of Canadians, South Koreans and Nigerians also took the NLCEX, implying that they also compete with Filipinos in America’s nursing labor market.

Since 1994, a total of 215,599 Philippine-schooled nurses have taken the NCLEX for the first time, Defensor said.

Some 46 percent of Filipino nurses pass the NCLEX on their first attempt, while around 27 percent of repeaters make the grade.

Defensor is author of House Bill 7933, which seeks to nearly double from P33,575 to P60,901 the starting monthly base pay of nurses employed in Philippine government hospitals.

“We hope that our measure, once enacted, will discourage at least some of our nurses, particularly those with strong social ties here at home, from going abroad,” Defensor said.

Under the bill, the entry-level pay of government nurses shall be bumped up by six notches to Salary Grade 21.

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