The Philippines produced 37,098 new registered nurses in 2024.
However, Quezon City Rep. Marvin Rillo warned that many may not practice nursing or may seek employment abroad instead.
“Largely due to the pressure to survive, some of them will likely try to seek immediate employment, even if it means taking on other jobs and not practicing nursing,” said Rillo, vice chairperson of the House committee on higher and technical education.
He noted that in the past, many nurses have ended up in real estate, insurance, car sales, or business process outsourcing jobs.
“We are not paying our new nurses enough to encourage them to practice their profession,” according to him.
The Philippines is already facing a growing shortage of nurses, worsened by both slower nurse production and nonstop migration abroad. The country currently lacks 127,000 nurses, a gap expected to widen to 250,000 by 2030, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The 37,098 new nurses in 2024 is similar to the 36,525 produced in 2023, according to the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC). But, Rillo emphasized that this is still low compared to the average of 63,800 new nurses annually more than a decade ago.
“We must invest more in our nurses if we want to retain some of them in the local health sector,” the solon said.
He also pointed out that many new nurses are already eyeing jobs overseas.IMT
