Is there really an oversupply of Pinoy Nurses in the Philippines?

Recent reports state that there is an oversupply of Pinoy nurses now in the Philippines due mainly to 2 factors.

1. Highly commercialized nursing schools - Students are still being advised to take on Nursing because they and their parents believed that becoming a nurse abroad is their ticket to escape poverty. Success stories of Pinoy nurses abroad are being flaunted everyday by nursing schools to attract more and more students to boost their earnings. And one way or another, someone from the family has direct link or relation to someone who is making big bucks abroad that only solidify the intent of the students to take on nursing.

The result - more and more high school graduates are now flooding these nursing schools as the preferred college course. Tens of thousands also end up taking the nursing board exams. The high board passing rate also encourage the students to take on the course.

2. Practical Nursing programs - Not many people know on the onset that Practical nurses end up to be the nursing assistants to registered nurses here and abroad. The proliferation of practical nursing programs from various nursing school institutions, which is a vocational course to begin with, has attracted even more students to easily jump into the nursing boom.

False advertising plays the part on the oversupply. Students are led to believe that Practical nursing course is their shortcut to going abroad than taking the full 4-year course. But recent reports showed that graduates of practical nursing are having a hard time finding jobs abroad contrary to what has been advertised when they are enrolling in those practical nursing schools.

This has raised concerns at PNA which warned students to be very careful taking on this course as it is not a guarantee that they will get working visas or immigrant status in the US for example.

Now with all unemployed nurses around, how will the government deal with this oversupply situation? This will definitely add to unemployment rate in the future if and when the government will not take action as early as now to curb the impact of this impending oversupply as well as the effect of deteriorating demand in the nursing profession here and abroad.