The huge number of desperate nurses who are seeking for clinical exposure has opened an opportunity for hospital administrators to take advantage of the situation and to lessen its costs of expenses. The so-called "volunteerism-for a fee" scheme is currently observe in almost all of the hospitals right now. And to make the exploitation less obvious, hospitals are fondly calling it a "training program". The principle is very simple- "PAY AS YOU WORK" which is usually good for a month to six months.
While it is true that no one is twisting anybody's arm to participate in these programs, it is still a deceitful act. There is no other way for you to be employed in their hospital unless you participate in the program. So desperate nurses would still flock and submit themselves with a hope that later on they will be absorb. But this is again far from reality. After months of training, nurses are sent home coupled with a promise that they will be called back if there are vacancies. Well, options are given to continue the training for another month to six months but of course you have to pay the fee again. On the other hand, as another cycle of volunteers finishes the course of the training, another batch will commence.
This is how nurses employment system is currently practiced. And really, after a year of having my PRC license, I could not still decipher the rationale behind it. For me, it is an absurdity. IT IS SO CORRUPT and I will never immense myself to that. Dr. Hermogenes Jarin, the vice-president of Philippine Hospital Association gave a lame excuse that there is always a fee for internship. Such was an idiotic remark. True, there is a fee for internship but registered nurses are already done with the internship as included in the nursing education curriculum. And the very fact that the program has become a vicious cycle, certainly it is illegal.
I salute though my fellows in the profession who have taken the act of martyrdom by submitting themselves to the corrupt system. As opportunities abroad are requiring at least a year of work experience, they are all more concerned for the experience that they will gain and for the certificate of training that will be given to them. But here's the glitch.
Where do you draw the line between the responsibilities of a real staff nurse from a nurse trainee? The fact is trainees are not at all responsible for the 100% care of the patient, especially when it comes to delicate nursing procedures. Having said that, training experience is not tantamount to work experience that is why certificate of trainings are not honored abroad.
It is indeed a big shame that it is the public hospitals which mostly practice this corrupt scheme. And personally, I am offended by the fact that the San Pedro Hospital, the based hospital of San Pedro College, one of the three biggest hospital in Davao City and run by the Dominican Sisters of the Trinity is also engaged in the practice. Perhaps, San Pedro Hospital has the most corrupt scheme having the shortest period of training, which is one month and would cost around P3000. And yes, they train but they don't hire.
Not even once, have I doubted the nobility of the nursing profession. The opportunity to take care of the sick and see them recuperate back to their pre-illness state or to witness someone die with dignity in the midst of genuine love and grief from family is perhaps the greatest reward a nurse can ever have. We deal with real emotions, with real experiences. WE CARE. It's just so sad that the nobility has been tarnished with corrupt intentions of gaining more, of earning more at the expense of the desperate and willing nurses.
So now that this deceitful scheme is finally exposed and has finally reached the doors of the senate, I really hope that those in power would look into this matter seriously and would put a stop to the exploitation. And to the Dominican Sisters of the Trinity of San Pedro Hospital, Sisters, in the name of St. Therese of Lisieux our patron saint PLEASE STOP THE INSANITY. Remember, as what our school motto says, LOVE SERVES. :). AMEN
