unemployed nurses told to apply at call centers

7/28/2019 Unemployed Nurses Told to Apply at Call Centers

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Unemployed nurses told to apply at call centers

ByPhilip C. TubezaPhilippine Daily Inquirer9:16 pm | Saturday, March 3rd, 2012

22 2020 502MANILA, PhilippinesLabor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz is now advisingsome 100,000 unemployed Filipino nurses in the country to try their luck in thebooming business process outsourcing industry or call centers which shesaid had non-traditional health-related aspects.Baldoz was referring to an array of non-clinical but medical-related informationoutsourcing opportunities such as medical transcriptionists, billers and healthcare secretaries, that provide alternatives for those seeking careers in thehealthcare industry.With the fast-growing and innovative trends and advancements in thehealthcare industry, I encourage you to go out-of-the-box, beyond the

traditional clinical jobs, and explore other emerging medical and health-relatedcareers that are needed by our labor market today, Baldoz said.Citing a report from the Bureau of Local Employment (BLE), Baldoz said thehealthcare information outsourcing sector of BPOs is considered one of thefast-growing sectors with over 100,000 medical-related jobs open to nursinggraduates.She said healthcare careers now expand into various disciplines which openhuge career opportunities for nursing graduates and allied medicalprofessionals.The Career Guides posted at the BLE website athttp://ble.dole.gov.ph/career.asp said healthcare outsourcing careers that

unemployed nurses could consider include Medical Transcriptionists; MedicalSecretaries; Medical Coders and Billers; Medical Assistants; MedicalRepresentatives; and Medical Butlers.Nursing graduates may also apply as clinical research associates whomonitor and administer health and safety protocols, Baldoz said.She said the job requires the same skills required of nurses, like medicalknowledge and skill in applying clinical regulatory requirements.If they are into clinical review and decision making, they may consider acareer as a clinical appeals specialist who abstracts relevant factsdocumented in the patients medical record, reviews clinical cases andresponds to written medical appeals of patients and clients, Baldoz said.

Citing the BLE Career Guides, Baldoz noted that these healthcareoutsourcing jobs have starting pays ranging from P14,000-P18,000 whileclinical appeals specialists employed in the BPO industry receive basic pay ofP20,000-P40,000.The pay may even be higher depending on the hours of work, typing speedand type of employment, Baldoz said.The salary in these alternate medical careers is almost double the averagemonthly salary of P10,000 received by nurses working in local hospitals andprivate institutions. Baldoz said.Beyond the higher pay, considering these medical-related careers asemployment alternatives is a win-win solution for our jobseekers in thehealthcare industry, she said.
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These jobs, alongside with constant re-tooling and re-training, add to theireducational expertise which will increase and broaden their competencies asthey venture to their dream medical profession in the future, Baldoz added.

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The exodus of Filipino nurses to call center industry

Posted by yul 4:23 PM, underBPO,business process outsourcing,call center

agents,customer service representatives,Nursing beyond|No comments

If you are a nursewho recently took the board exam, then you must be one of the many newgraduates who are considered to be unemployed. After the long weekendparties, holidays, and vacation trips a month ago, you should have recentlywondered 'hey what's next for me now?' Well you are not alone. In fact, manyof my reviewmates in a local review center headed to many local BPO

companies here in our city. BPO or business process outsourcing involvesthe contracting of the operations and responsibilities of specific businessfunctions (or processes) to a third-party service provider.

Employees who work under these companies are referred as call centeragents or customer service representatives. I'm sure any graduates here inthe Philippines has once in a while heard things related to call centercompanies, etc. That is totally a no-brainer. Undergraduates, unemployedgraduates of nursing almost exclusively resort working for these companies.Armed with your English language literacy, this work will not need so much ofyour math skills nor theoretically inclined whatsoever which are related to your

degree. If you have been very comfortable using the language then youshould be fine with it.
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Nurses who have been very dedicated to their field is left with no choice but towork for companies that give them a good offer.I think nurses too are verycapable of working in these BPO companies as well. WHY?Here's a short list:

Nurses are trained to work under pressure. They accomplish the jobcompletely and right on time;

We are very accustomed facing the people and talking to the people--case study presentations, care plan defense, community programs,health teachings to our patients, thesis defense and proposal, etc.NAME IT!

Almost every nurse who finished the degree is equipped with goodlanguage skills.

We have refined interpersonal relations to different people. Peoplefriendly that is.

Disciplined with strong working ethics Sanay sa puyatanINDEED

What I have cited are just some of the reasons why nurses are a good fit forsuch job. And that is why also many call center companies welcome thesemanpower with open arms. (HAHA).

Kidding aside, another point to raise would be:

1. NURSES STUDIED for a BSN degree for 4 excruciating years--why thenwork for BPO companies?2. Your parents and kind relatives exhausted around Php400,000.00 -600,000.00 for you to finish nursing, work as a nurse, and go abroad!!! Theydid not spend such amount of money for you to end up as a call center agent,duh!!3. To work as a nurse you need to finish the degree. Vs to work as a callcenter agent you only need 4 semesters of any course in college. Wew!

4. Yes you got a work. But still, you are considered to be underemployedsince your work is not in line with the degree you earned. Perhaps you will stillbe included in the DOLE statistics. haha5. Meager wage of hospitals (6-10K) Vs the enticing 10-18k of BPOcompanies.6. Non contractual (for staff nurses) Vs Contractual of BPO companies.7. To sum it up: nakakapag hinayang ang main issue diba!

This issue is truly a reflection of our economy's poor condition. The surplus ofmanpower in our country has led to the emergence of temporary/contractualemployment wherein workers are very vulnerable to any possible exploitation.

Still, nurses who decides to work off the track for these companies are not be


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blamed. A decision has to be made and its for the benefit of their families andfor personal growth as well.

Employment of Nursing GraduatesNursingIn education,Nursing includes a range of specialties and definitions that vary from country tocountry.

According to the International Council of Nurses:"Nursing encompasses autonomous and

collaborative care of individuals of all ages, families,groups and communities, sick or well and in all

settings. Nursing includes the promotion of health, prevention of illness, and the care of ill, disabled

and dying people. Advocacy, promotionof a safe environment, research, participation in shaping

health policy and in patient and healthsystems management, and education are also key nursing

roles."Some agencies highlight the duty of nurses to assist individuals in performing activities

thatcontribute to health, recovery, or peaceful death, that the patients would perform if they hadthestrength, will, or knowledge required. Nurses strive to achieve the best possible quality of life

fortheir patients, regardless of disease or disability. They use clinical judgment to protect, promote,and

optimize health, prevent illness and injury, alleviate suffering, and advocate in health carefor

individuals, families, communities, and populations.Theoretical BackgroundIn fifth century BC, Hippocrates was one of the first people in the world to study healthcare,earning him the title of "the father of modern medicine. Jesus Christ also taught that

sick peopleshould be cared for; in around 370 AD, one of the first Christian hospitals in the world was builtin Cappadocia. Western European concepts of nursing were first practiced by male Catholicmonks

who provided for the sick and ill during the Dark Ages of Europe.During 17th century Europe,

nursing care was provided by men and women serving punishment.It was often associated with

prostitutes and other female criminals serving time. They had areputation for being drunk and

obnoxious, a view amplified by the doctors of the time to makethemselves seem more important and

able. It was not until Florence Nightingale, a well-educatedwoman from a middle class family,

became a nurse and improved it drastically that people beganto accept nursing as a respectable

profession. Other aspects also helped in the acceptance of nursing. In 1853 Theodore Fliedner set up a

hospital where the nurses he employed had to be of good nature. Many people were impressed with

this facility, and because of it, the BritishInstitute of Nursing Sisters was set up.Prior to the foundation

of modern nursing, nuns and the military often provided nursing-likeservices. The religious andmilitary roots of modern nursing remain in evidence today in manycountries, for example in the

United Kingdom, senior female nurses are known assisters. It wasduring time of war that a significant development in nursing history arose when

English nurseFlorence Nightingale, working to improve conditions of soldiers in the Crimean War,

laid thefoundation stone of professional nursing with the principles summarized in the book Notes

inNursing. Other important nurses in the development of the profession include: Mary Seacole,who

also worked as a nurse in the Crimea; Agnes Elizabeth Jones and Linda Richards, whoestablished

quality nursing schools in the USA and Japan, and Linda Richards who was officiallyAmerica's first

professionally trained nurse, graduating in 1873 from the New England Hospitalfor Women and

Children in Boston.


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New Zealand was the first country to regulate nurses nationally, with adoption of the

NursesRegistration Act on the 12 September 1901. It was here in New Zealand that Ellen Dougherty

opass a nursing licensure law in 1903.Nurses have experienced difficulty with the hierarchy in

medicine that has resulted in animpression that nurses' primary purpose is to follow the direction of

physicians. This tendency iscertainly not observed in Nightingale'sNotes on Nursing, where the physicians are mentionedrelatively infrequently, and often in critical tones

particularly relating to bedside manner.The modern era has seen the development of nursing degrees

and nursing has numerous journalsto broaden the knowledge base of the profession. Nurses are often

in key management roleswithin health services and hold research posts at universities.ImplicationsOversupply of nurses in the Philippines is reflected in recent statistics which shows that as of 2008,

there are 460 accredited Nursing schools in the Philippines. The total BS Nursinggraduates reached

67,728 in the same year. More than 70,000 (adding the number of those whodid not pass the board

exam in their previous attempt/s) were expected to take the June 2008Nursing Board Examination

given and administered by the Philippine Regulation Commission(PRC). How many of theseexaminees will pass the board exam? That we do not know yet butthe trend shows that only between

60-70% pass the board exam each year. Taking all thingsconstant, the remaining 30-40% (non-

passers) account for about 21,000-28,000 unregisterednurses who cannot put their education to good

use because of stringent employmentrequirements even in their own localities. This goes to show that many of our nursing graduatesin the

Philippines are either unemployed or underemployed. In my rough estimation, theunemployment rate

of nurses/nursing graduates could be between 50,000-60,000 per year.As to deployment abroad,

starting in 2006, between 13,000-15,000 Registered Nurses (RN) havebeen deployed abroad every

year. Locally, it seems these nurses cannot find gainful employmentbecause very few job openings

are available. If they can ever find jobs here, there is a highlikelihood that there will be a job mismatch

because as I have seen in the past, BS Nursinggraduates work in department stores as clerks, in food

chains as service crews, in governmentagencies as secretaries and the like. The oversupply of nurses

in the Philippines is becoming aserious problem. With the increasing number of nursing students

enrolled each year, we willcertainly produce more and more unemployed individuals after their

graduation (as weexperienced many years ago). The sad thing is we are not producing hundreds or a

few thousandsof unemployed nurses but tens of thousands on a yearly basis.As of late, the New

Philippine Nursing Curriculum has been revamped and included two newsubjects. With this New

Nursing Curriculum, concerned parties like parents and students haveexpressed their grievances over

the addition of the new subjects because they will definitely spellmore expenses. Taking into account

the crises (yes folks, plural!) that we have here in thePhilippines, this scenario is unacceptable to themajority of parents and students affected by therevamp in the BS Nursing curriculum. Did this

incident discourage students from enrolling inthe BS Nursing program? Nope. Not a bit. Nursing as a

course and profession will remainattractive to Filipinos because of its promising material benefits in

the future. In view of this,oversupply of nurses in the Philippines will continue, which is implied by latest trends in thesupply of

and demand for Filipino nurses here and abroad.How can we possibly regulate, if not eliminate, the

oversupply of nurses in the Philippines?Personally, if I were in the position to recommend to the

Philippine government policiesregarding this subject, I would recommend the strict regulation of

Nursing schools applying foraccreditation as one of the many ways to ensure quality nursing

education. Licenses of Nursingschools which cannot provide quality education should be revoked.Also, students who want to


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enrol in the BS Nursing program should be screened thoroughly. Filtering should be

done upto their third year in the degree program. If school administrators find the student unfit for thecourse,

then they should tell the students to shift to another course as early as possible or at leastput them on probation to see if the students academic performance will improve afte

r onesemester. Nursing is not the only course in the Philippines. Students whose hearts are not into itshouldnot be forced by parents or relatives to take BS Nursing out of their hopes that theirchildren will make more money after graduation. Take money out of the equation and

well havea better chance to produce better and more productive healthcare professionals. Add to that, wewill be

able to balance the distribution of students enrolling in different degree programs over theyears to come, which could help us solve ourcountrys problem regarding oversupply

of nurses.Despite the implications, the trends, the statistics, some numbers are increasing for nursesapplying as

call center agents. Reasons are scarcity of need for nurses in local hospitals or clinics,easy to apply in

BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) with justifiable compensation unlike beinga volunteer, othersdont want to be nurses because they are forced by their parent s consequenceis, they just stayed home.The question is on oneself... to pursue being a nurse... or somewhere else. The important thing isto

strive towards a goal which is not immediately visible

unemployed nurses told to apply at call centers

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