balasang's Blog

There is a need for over 2 million nurses by the year 2020 in the US alone. No matter how hopeless it seems sometimes, the odds are in favor of nurses. The world is getting more crowded and the population is getting older-- these are undisputable facts. We need nurses everywhere. The hospital infrastructure in the Philippines cannot support the 100,000 nursing graduates every year and therefore there's a bottleneck. The solution is multi-faceted. It will require the unity of hospital administrators, nursing school administrators and nurses both in the Philippines and overseas to come together and take advantage of a great opportunity.

1. Hospital administration in the Philippines should reach out to hospitals in the US or elsewhere and engage them in some type of exchange program. Broker a deal where both hospitals can benefit- a sister facility overseas can offer mentorship/training /nurse practices in the Philippines. In exchange, a Philippine hospital can send nurses overseas for a contract of 2 years. Nurses should look at this as an opportunity to train abroad and come back to the Philippines with better training, experience and financial stability.

2. It will take nurses to look at working overseas not as "greener pastures", but a chance to learn how to tend your own garden at home. Invest in the Philippines, in our own economy and for the good of nursing in the Philippines.

3. We should look at the example of India and the IT boom there. Young Indian professionals train for the IT industry, work abroad for a short while and then return to India to start their own business or work in India. In turn, India is fast becoming a more stable economy.

4. Nurses now working overseas can provide a lot of support and voice fro the nurses back home. Sending money back home is great, but even greater is joining together and making a difference- join the Philippine Nursing Association of America-- be an active voice in not just how you can make a difference in the your lives in the states, but stand up and insist on how you can give back to the nursing community in the Philippines.

5. Insist that the current nursing association really be the voice for change. If you have been blessed with leadership abilities, then stand up and take charge. Don't wait for something to happen, make it happen.

By no means am I saying I am an expert at nursing migration, nor am I a nurse by trade. However, what I am suggesting are common sense ideas. Maybe a bit of Barack Obama's message of "Yes we can" is resonating with me. I simply think we can empower nurses to act. It will take one small step from each of us to make the bigger things happen.

We all can make a difference. In my own way, I want to open doors of information- -that's why we founded nursetogether. com --it's a very small step, but its a step in the right direction. I want active and future nurses to have a voice, but also gain the knowledge to be well informed, to be empowered.

-Empowering nurses, now that's really power to the people.