Top 10 Major Problems encountered by nurses in the Philippines

Nurses in the Philippines face several challenges in their day-to-day lives working in the health sector of the Philippines. 

These challenges are numerous and if not properly addressed will affect the entire structure of nurses in the Philippines as a whole. 

Without wasting much time, here are the top 10 problems encountered by nurses in the Philippines.

1. Lack of Resources In Nursing Trends And Innovations.

One of the most significant issues for nurses in the Philippines is a lack of resources in nursing trends and advances.

Many hospitals and clinics in the Philippines are underfunded, with insufficient equipment and resources to offer effective patient care. This makes it difficult for nurses to do their duties properly.

2. High Patient-To-Nurse Ratio

Another issue is the excessive patient-to-nurse ratio. Nurses are responsible for caring for a huge number of patients in many healthcare facilities in the Philippines, which can be exhausting and lead to burnout.

This can also make it difficult for nurses to give the degree of care that they desire, leading to feelings of frustration and powerlessness that negatively impact nursing work-life balance.

3. Understaffing Issues/ Work Overload

The third major issue faced by Philippines nurses is the issue of shortage of nurses and work overload among the few working nurses.

With very little funding invested into nursing education by the government, very few Filipinos are not able to get a successful education in the nursing field. This often results in a shortage of nurses in the job market. This creates a work overload among the few working nurses.

Due to a limited number of nurses, the few recruited nurses are often required to work for extremely long hours, some working often like 12 hours a day. The high work overload often results in stress and anxiety among nurses.

4. Lack of Support from the Government

Nurses in the Philippines often cry about a lack of support from the government as they try to perform their duties.

They need support such as the provision of basic resources necessary to do their duties, motivations for their good performance and most importantly promotions. This can help boost their morale at work and give them a sense of belonging.

5. Lack of Career Advancement Opportunities

Lack of career advancement opportunities has been an issue faced by several nurses in the Philippines. When nurses are discriminated against in the workplace, they might not be able to have an interest in furthering their career within the nursing field.

Also, many nurses work over a long period, which gives little or no room for the nurses to create time for themselves to advance their career path by taking extra classes etc.

Likewise, the government has failed to provide training programs in hospitals that can help in developing and training the nurses in the latest technological and scientific trends.

6. Discrimination

Generally, nurses in the Philippines face the issues of discrimination in the workplace. The discrimination against nurses in the Philippines can be seen in terms of gender, where female nurses are highly discriminated against, ethnicity, religious dogma and age.

With regards to age, older and mature nurses or supervisors might discriminate among younger nurses.

This discrimination often makes it harder for nurses to perform their duties smoothly. This can further result in job loss, unemployment, and job dissatisfaction and might result in difficulties in the advancement of a career for the individuals affected.

7. Low salaries

Generally, compared to other developed nations around the Philippines; nurses in the Philippines are generally paid very low salaries. The salaries of nurses in the Philippines are often too low which makes it hard for many nurses to be able to support their families, pay their bills and be able to put food on the table.

An average nurse in the Philippines earns USD 625 which is much lower compared to nurses in the USA who earn on average $6,134 a month. The low salary in the Philippines often results in mass migration of nurses out of the Philippines to other countries.

8. Violence against nurses

The next major problem faced by nurses in the Philippines is the issue of violence. Nurses in the Philippines are under constant threats from patients or from their family members who are not happy with their services. This can sometimes be physical, emotional and psychological trauma. This often results in stress among nurses and may affect their overall work performance

Also, many hospitals or health facilities lack a security team to protect these nurses in case a fight breaks out within the hospitals. The absence of security personnel often gives room for nurses to be victims of violence within the Philippines.

9. Migration of nurses to other countries

The next major problem encountered by nurses in the Philippines is the issue of migration of well-trained nurses to other countries in search of greener pastures.

The Philippines has always been known as the number one exporter of nurses to other countries in the world.

Due to the poor working conditions nurses faced in the Philippines, low salary wages paid to nurses, and discrimination among nurses in the Philippines, many nurses often resort to migrating to other countries in search of a better and more secure career path.

This migration often results in a shortage of skilled nurses in the Philippine job market, resulting in a lack of quality services in most health facilities in the Philippines.

10. Unemployment among graduates

The last major problem encountered by nurses in the Philippines is the issue of unemployment among many graduates in the field of nursing.

Many hospitals or health facilities in the Philippines often employ only graduates with several years of working experience. This has resulted in many graduates engaging in volunteering programs to gain experiences that can enable them to have a nursing job.

These long years of volunteerism often result in massive unemployment and underemployment among graduates in nursing.

Concluding remarks

The above are some of the major problems encountered by nurses in the Philippines. The Philippine government and health care ministry are taking major steps to combat these problems.

Nurses are generally, learning to adapt to these challenges and are finding ways to overcome them when they occur.

There are many more problems encountered by nurses in the Philippines that have not been listed above. If, you are a nursing student or a working nurse in the Philippines, share with us some other major challenges you encountered while working as a nurse in the Philippines in the comment section below.

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