Why Nursing is Very Popular in Philippines

Nursing has a long history in the Philippines.Early Filipino community had a belief in health and sickness, although the community’s conviction was that evil spirit was the cause of disease, it still used herbs to treat the patients. Female family members of the sick person or their friends took care of the sick. Filipino women also took care of wounded soldier during the revolution against Spanish colonizers. Americans later took over the colonization of Philippines.

Americans introduced the formal nursing practice to Filipinos. They started training the first batch of students in 1907 teaching the same subjects as those for nursing students in the United States. It is said that the curriculum in the Philippines was not a mirror image of the lessons that US students learned but a simple transfer of knowledge. No matter the content, the early exposure to nursing helped to generate interest in the nursing career for Filipinos.

Since then nursing is one of the most popular professions in the Philippines for the following reasons:

Better Economic Prospects

Philippine is a poor country. Since there is high demand for Filipino nurses abroad due to their early association with Americans, there are many who view it as their key to opening netter career prospects and earn better pay. In the weak Philippine economy, a Registered Nurse (RN) salary is about 5% of the earnings by an RN working in the United States. The US has a shortage of nurses, a factor that has led to more employment opportunities for nurses from the Philippines.

It is also not surprising that the main destination for nurses from the Philippines is the US. They feel more at home in the country due to their colonial ties. It is the same thing as having many Pakistanis and Indians in England or Algerians in France. Many Filipinos prefer to work outside their country where they can earn higher salaries and get better job opportunities. Nursing presents a better chance to leave the country with a dismal economy hence inspires many individuals to enroll from nursing programs as a ticket to move abroad.

Nursing has Multiple Career Paths

The career choice sin a country with an ill- performing economy does not have many career options. Nursing is one of the few careers offering a broad range of job opportunities that suit any personality and interest as long as you attain the academic requirements. Nurses get a choice to work at various health care facilities. Clinics, physician's offices, nursing homes and hospitals are some of the places where nurses work. Nursing also gives professionals in the field an opportunity to specialize in areas such as pediatrics, geriatrics, oncology, midwifery and much more.

Opportunities for Career Advancement

A licensed nurse also gets numerous opportunities to advance in their career. With continuing education and experience, nurses get opportunities to make progress in their careers. When a nurse moves into a leadership position, he or she gets into a leadership position where they can influence decisions and make an input into the kind of healthcare that their employer provide. Some nurses also get an opportunity to serve in positions where they can influence national nursing policies. As nurses gain more experience and get promotions, they also earn higher salaries and receive more benefits.

Cultural Care giving orientation

Filipinos are hard working and love the family environment. They are even happy to take care of the elderly. While some people may consider nursing to be a dirty job, many Filipinos consider this to be a magnificent job due to their upbringing. They learn from a young age to extend favors by taking care of those who need help. It is a valuable trait for anyone who intends to be a nurse as care giving is the primary role of individuals in the nursing profession.

Many Filipinos continue getting jobs abroad as employers like their good interpersonal relations and flexibility to settle in a different country. Most of them speak fluent English hence easier to employ than other nationalities who use it as their second language.