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By PHOEBE JEN INDINO
September 28, 2009, 8:41pm

CEBU CITY – Given the over-supply of registered nurses in the country currently, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) is urging nurses to explore other options relevant to their profession such as investing in home healthcare services through cooperatives and associations.

“Nurses should start thinking of being entrepreneurs,” underlined DoLE Undersecretary Carmelita Pineda during the culmination of the first batch of nurses participating in the Nurses Assigned in Rural Service (NARS) project in this city.

Pineda, in her speech, said nurses can go beyond being mere employees of hospitals, clinics and health units. “They can organize themselves into associations and cooperatives to set up home healthcare services, birthing places, or health facilities for older people among various other similar possibilities,” she urged.

The DoLE official added that while waiting for a chance to be employed overseas, nurses can venture into and already start income generating projects.

However, she admitted that the high demand for nurses abroad is a really attractive career to pursue because of its obvious economic returns.

Meanwhile, Pineda disclosed that the continuing demand for Filipino nurses overseas is expected to intensify, as the world’s northern countries experience longer lifespans and the graying of their population in the next five to ten years is sure to see the deployment of local nurses.

“Countries that will continue to offer employment opportunities include the Gulf States in the Middle East such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman,” she said.

Further, European countries including the United Kingdom and Ireland will also continue hiring Filipino nurses, even as new markets are emerging in Norway, Belgium, Denmark, Finland and Netherlands.

Canada, too, is a new market, while Australia and New Zealand likewise offer job opportunities for nurses.

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/222455/nurses-urged-invest-healthcare-services

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