Republic of the Philippines

CAMARINES SUR POLYTECHNIC COLLEGES

Nabua, Camarines Sur
ISO 9001:2008 GRADUATE SCHOOL

Nursing in Politics

I. Nursing in Politics
Although nurses are very busy, they should always exercise their social rights, and
one of these is to be involved in politics. Being involved in politics doesn’t just necessarily
mean to be involved in government positions, as a nurse, we can exercise our rights in
politics by simply voting for the candidate that we believe that can help for our patients.
Since one of the main purpose of politics is to equip the society with their needs, it matches
the goal of nurses which is to help individuals, families, groups, and communities to reach
an optimum state of well-being by restoring, maintaining, and promoting their health.
Therefore, the main purpose of a nurse is just a branch among the priorities of the society.
The people who have position in the government cannot address the needs of the people
without understanding what they need, that’s why they need their workers to speak up
for the people. Nurses are the voice of the patients, every day we interact with them. We
keep track of the appointments and determine what they need. I believe that I can
participate in politics without leaving my job by not just participating in election but also
by being a voice of the patients to the government to address what they need.

II. Issues in the system

Although we have our responsibility in the government as a nurse, there are still undeniable
issues regarding the system like:

 Inadequacy of health facilities where nurses

can work -
A good nurse cannot maximize his/her abilities
if the health facilities are inadequate. In the
2019 proposed budget, there will be a P36-
billion cut from DOH budget, this might lead

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 Republic of the Philippines
CAMARINES SUR POLYTECHNIC COLLEGES
Nabua, Camarines Sur

ISO 9001:2008 GRADUATE SCHOOL

to job loss and fewer services, the weak healthcare system may become weaker
and the few health equipment may become fewer. Even if the budget before was
P121 billion, this was still not enough to give the needs of the patients. The
potentials of the doctors and nurses are not maximized because of the lack of
equipment. The equipment available sometimes set the capacity of the workers
because they cannot perform complicated operations with the absence of the
facilities. If the budget before is already not enough to suffice the needs of the
patients, it can be inferred that the healthcare will get worse.
 Supply and demands of nurses in the Philippines
There is always a conflict in
balancing the supply and the
demand. If the demand exceeds
the supply, the number in supply
will catch up to suffice the
demands, and after this, the
supply will exceed the demand.
This cycle is almost unending in almost all aspects including the supply and
demands for nurses. Nursing is one of the most chosen majors here in the
Philippines but there is an undeniable number of unemployed graduates and lack
of nurses in some institutions. The main reason for this is that most of the
graduates prefer to work abroad. They receive more income and more benefits if
they work abroad. Also, one of the things that they want to prevent here in the
Philippines is the contractualization. Although the president promised to eliminate
contractualization in the Philippines, it is still evident even up to this date even in

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 Republic of the Philippines
CAMARINES SUR POLYTECHNIC COLLEGES
Nabua, Camarines Sur

ISO 9001:2008 GRADUATE SCHOOL

the field of nursing.

Number of nuses distributed around the country

ARMM CARAGA
3% 2%
XI
3%
XII NCR
4% 16% CAR
X 3%
IX 5%
4%
I
VIII 6%
4% II
VII 4%
7% III
10%
VI
9% IVA
V
6% 10%

IVB
3%

As seen in the graph, most of the nurses work in urban areas such as in
NCR and Region III. Rural places like in CARAGA and CAR lacks nurses which only
has 3% among the total population of nurses in the Philippines. One of the
concerns that the government should address is the improper distribution of nurses
in the country to address the needs of the people.
 Current Salary (Public and Private)
In the Philippines a nurse from a public hospital earns approximately P18,000 per
month and a nurse from a public hospital earns approximately P18,000 per month.
Compared to the salary of nurses in other countries, they earn $5,204 which is
approximately P275,000 which is almost fifteen times from what they can get here
in the Philippines. Even if it is planned to increase the salary of the nurses, the
salary here in the Philippines will never be enough because of the inflation here in

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 Republic of the Philippines
CAMARINES SUR POLYTECHNIC COLLEGES
Nabua, Camarines Sur

ISO 9001:2008 GRADUATE SCHOOL

our country. This is one of the major causes why Filipino nurses tend to work
abroad rather here in the Philippines.