The Nursing Epidemic

All around the world, there is a continuous shortage of nurses. The sudden demand for nurses makes one wonder if these people who take the course are really willing to serve the patients or are they just concerned about earning money.

According to Nurses Association, an estimate of 2,000 doctors enrolled in nursing schools throughout the country. In the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) forum, former Health Secretary and Executive Director of the National Institute of Health announced that an alarming 100,000 nurses left the country from 1994 to 2003. These statistics point to the Philippines as the top exporter of nurses worldwide.

The response to migration is not only widespread in big cities in the country. One can see the effects of the nursing epidemic. Whenever I ask students around the campus what course they are going to take for college, most of the answers is NURSING.

When asked why they want to pursue a degree in Nursing, most of the answers is to go abroad. Personally, I have nothing against anybody taking up nursing but if it is just for the pay then they have to think twice. They are not just responsible for themselves but also for the other’s lives. As an old saying goes, “The true way to render ourselves happy is to love our work and find in it our pleasure.”