every year, the number of nurses (in the Philippines) increase and the number of them unemployed in hospitals and other course-related work is growing bigger, too. some of the registered nurses are now applying and most are already working in call centers due to shortage of employers for them. as it is now, there is an apparent upsurge of nursing students in universities and this surely will add up to the unemployment rate.
do u think it is appropriate for nurses to work in call centers or any other establishments whose businesses are not in line with their profession? do u think the government should now make a move to stop, if not minimize, accepting students who are enrolling in the nursing course until such time that the number of those unemployed declines? please share ur thoughts on this issue. thanks.
[question posted by moneymakingtoday]
responses and comments:
nurses are flexible any work fits to them.i admire those who work in this kind of work.since nurses here in the Philippines are overflowing and all hospital cannot accommodate all of them i can say good well done to nurses...happy [amyson]
u are right, amyson. nurses are flexible. i just hope they won't experience problems with resigning once vacancies arise in hospitals for course-related work, that is, if they still want to work in hospitals. there is a possibility that a nurse's attention is easily shifted to higher-paying, non-course-related jobs. and ... please be careful in anything that u sign, especially contracts of employment. u might need to get out of there immediately in favor of a hospital work (which is very "evasive") but cannot, because of conditions in ur contract. [moneymakingtoday]
Well, nurses can survive in call center industry. They are trained in shifting schedules, can also do multitasking, problem solving and etc. Being in the hospital or being an agent is the same both jobs are stressful when it come to dealing with clients. Having a job not related to their coarse is now a big problem in the country. It increases more the number of unemployment and the quality of the education is deteriorating. I don't think government can do anything about it, they are too busy with their own errands, election is coming. People has no choice but to go with the flow... [simonelee]
absolutely true! shifting schedules are peanuts to nurses and they had undergone this kind of training even when they were still in school. in an effort to immediately land a job and earn, coupled with the lack of employment opportunities in hospitals, nurses try their luck in call centers. the economic crisis and recession in the US and other countries had a domino effect on the local nurses. more experienced local nurses cannot, as yet, travel for work abroad. once this thing slackens, there will be local employment for new nurses here. [moneymakingtoday]
i would just like to share my opinion that some nurses do not apply to call centers just because there are no hospitals who would like to take them in,some nurses apply for the call center jobs because they can earn higher there than apply in a hospital that only offers like Php 8000. in the call center company, they can give an offer in the range of 12000 - 18000, the government should focus more on providing employment for all unemployed. not only nurses make up the most of the unemployed. and not only nurses take up a job that is not in line with their course. a lot of people nowadays are in a field not necessarily in line with the course they took in college [eabaterina]
one more sad thing ... volunteer nurses do the work for a maximum period of 3 months and they are the ones paying one government hospital at P500/month, which is really an irony. even schools with their own graduates cannot accommodate all their graduates. if ever there is a vacancy, this is not made available to graduates of other schools. my oldest son, who is a nurse, too, chose to work as clinical instructor in the university where he came from. the pay is even better than the hospital staff nurse. [moneymakingtoday]
i actually know a lot of nurses who are working in call centers, in pharmaceutical companies and even korean schools. i am a nurse and i can say that it is really tough to work in a hospital. the board of nursing said that they will make the board exams tougher so that there will be a lesser number of board passers.. i have tried working in a call center, even in a coffee shop.. since nurses are flexible, some won't mind working in establishents that are not in line with their profession, as long as they are earning.. [andromeda81405]
i respect ur opinion. but i still think that skills of a nurse are better put into use where he is best placed at work ... and that is in the hospital or any other related medical fields. the pay may not be equally high (in the beginning) but surely the opportunities for work abroad is another thing to discuss about. working as nurses abroad requires local experience and working in call centers are surely not the kind of experience they are looking for. it would be another thing though if they are resigned to NOT working as nurses forever. [moneymakingtoday]
Sadly the job market does not exactly reflect people's skills. In Western Europe loads of people were trained in IT - now the number of IT professionals who are unemployed here is very high. Where nursing is concerned though, it is obviously a terrible waste of a necessary skill. Supply and demand being what it is, if they want to stay in their profession, they may have to move abroad. If they want to stay at home, practicability demands that they have to do other jobs. That, I am afraid, is how it works. [astonysh]
oopps, on second line, please replace "very demandable" with "in demand". my apologies. [moneymakingtoday]
I am a registered nurse. That is the reality nurses are facing now. It is really hard because I have studied for four hard years in nursing and just turn out to be a call center agent, that is very far from my dream. Well, we can't blame anyone, hospitals aren't hiring and call centers pay much compared to any jobs. [radiance27]
yes, that is being practical. have u heard about DOLE hiring rural nurses for 6 months, a program that they embarked which is helping the unemployed nurses? u must be in the recent batch (june 2009) of passers as my daughter. DOLE needs licensed nurses but PRC will release ur licenses 5 months from now yet. don't lose hope and be always vigilant of hospital work vacancies. God bless! [moneymakingtoday]
The government has no authority to say to people to stop enrolling in a course that they want to enroll. What I am interested is how the government handle the numerous graduates every semester. Nurses in the call centers are doing what they can to survive in these times of economic crisis. There is no wrong-doing that they have done. In fact, if they have their own choice, they might want to go overseas and do something rather than doing nothing in their own country.lol [learn2earn]
u are right. everyone needs to earn a living in order to survive and that is just what the nurses are doing. they cannot, as yet, work overseas because they need to have a 2-year hospital experience locally. [moneymakingtoday]
I think with the way the economy is nurses or anyone else should take whatever job they could get. They can still look for nursing jobs, but until they find one they have to live and pay their bills [mssnow]
yes, true. they need to find money in order to live. maybe they can save the money from these "non-related-course jobs", be in constant "vigilance" of hospital vacancies and go... apply! [moneymakingtoday]
Well, as far as I know working in call centers 'just' requires good telephone manner and ability of related language. I thik it doesn't matter whoever he/she is to work in call center. Even an uneducated person can also work in call centers. It's just how recruitment goes. Well, number of nurses is now more than number of jobs available, they are diluting the job opportunity as well. [charlies2805]
the sad fact is ... call centers are biased against nurses. some say they are not taking in nurses because they are just "passing time" working as call center agents and leave when they are scheduled to go outside the country or work in hospitals. [moneymakingtoday]
so that must be the reason why some call center companies would put in their ads that they "except" nursing graduates. You know what? Some nursing graduates see that as a discrimination. They don't see that that is the employers reason. It seems that because call center pay higher than an entry level local nurse, maybe it attracts nursing grads. But there are many nurses now if they are qualified to take a call center job why except them. Esp those somewhat related no matter how indirect like healthcare accounts. [JDy116]
amen to all of ur comments. i agree with what u say. this is the reality and fact in our country, isn't it? [moneymakingtoday]
Hiya friend.. Nurses in call centers and other non-related professions shows the worst condition of unemployemnt in the Phillippines. In my opinion, these newly graduates/licensed nurses must be able to work within their profession to practice what they have studied in the last 4 years in nursing schools. The country has minimal numbers of nurses working in government hospitals and health centers. Instead, some of them wants to volunteer in private hospitals. But some others have no choice but work in call centers or us English tutors. The government should address the ballooning numbers of nurses in the country. The country will be a nation of white scrub suits/robes with no patients to attend. [kid221]
u are right. because of the unemployment rate and the difficulty to get hospital work, some nurses choose to widen their knowledge by pursuing a masteral course and to get the "edge" over other nurses. [moneymakingtoday]
I am a nurse also and even though I'm batch 2008, I'm still thankful that I got the chance to work in the hospital, not as a volunteer but a staff nurse with pay, so I know I'm very blessed than others. Fresh nurses nowadays are being use by a lot of hospitals like they will try to volunteer themselves and they are the ones who will pay to the hospitals. That's why the main option for them is to find a work which would definitely help their living, like in the call centers...It's not bad to work there since it's better than to be unemployed...but the government should make a move about this because unemployed nurses keeps on increasing each year.... [joannaleed]
Yeah, I love this job because this is my chosen oath..my passion, I think that's why GOD gave me this great opportunity..I want to experience more and will learn a lot more....Thanks! [joannaleed]
If you can't find a job in your trained field you'll work where ever till you get the right job. [robertjvan]
true. u earn while waiting for the right job. [moneymakingtoday]
I do not see anything wrong about it. Even civil engineers and other professionals chosse to work in call center companies rather in companies realted to their field because of the monetary difference in terms of salaries call center companies gives. Though you can categorize these people as underemployed, the fact reamins that they are still employed and are productive. The goverment and other private companies may offer jobs for these people, but finding and landing in a job is also a choice people do. it just so happen that these people chose to work on call centers instead of companies in their field of work. [JOIEMARVIC]
Hi Parksong, No, I don't think it is right to discriminate anybody, nurses included. Because of the scarcity of work in their field, they make themselves productive by working mostly in call centers. I personally think that most people want to work in companies that offer bigger salaries and benefits. Because of the number of nurses working in call centers, they are being singled out. You are right. I hope the nurses' interest will not fully "stray" on a non-related job. I hear from an HR manager from a local hospital that they prefer to hire nurses who have just passed the board or have volunteer work recently than those getting higher board ratings but who had been idle for long. I think nurses need to upgrade on their learnings --- attend seminars and trainings once in a while. [moneymakingtoday]
It is sad to hear that nurses are workign in call centers in your place. There are lots of nurses in India and most of them are working in gulf countries and European countries. Nurses are paid in peanuts in my country and they can get more than 10 times they earn in India in gulf contries. India has good coaching centers for IELTS, TOFEL, ENCLEX, etc. (the courses which help nurses to work in foreign countries). [daliaj]
yes, most of the Philippine nurses are bound to work overseas. but as it is now, they still need to work for 2 years in the country before they are allowed to go to US, Canada, Australia or New Zealand. and there is no high rate of unemployment right now because the experienced ones are still in the country and could not, as yet go abroad because of recession and global economic woes. [moneymakingtoday]
well, the good thing is... it is nice to know that call centers are hiring nurses. because from what i heard, they are not hiring nurses because after working, they will resign and have the licensure examination. i guess, if you have a child, maybe tell them to choose the course that is in demand but not overpopulated. [donnakristel]
Hi Donnakristel, Yes, that is right, too. Some call centers are choosy. It is a fact that upon graduation and while waiting for board exam results, most of them apply at call centers. The call centers have experienced in the past that once they pass the board, they get out of the call centers to practice their profession. It is sad though, that they are overpopulated now and vacancies in hospital is very low. [moneymakingtoday]