Nurses Assigned in Rural Services (NARS)

A. Project Description Project NARS is a Training cum Deployment Project, jointly implemented by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the Department of Health (DOH) and the Professional Regulation Commission, Board of Nursing (PRC-BON), designed to mobilize unemployed registered nurses to the 1,000 poorest municipalities of the country to improve the delivery of health care services. Project NARS is in line with the pump priming strategies under the Economic Resiliency Plan of the Arroyo Administration to mitigate the impact of the global financial crisis, i.e. to save and create as many jobs as possible and expand social protection. This was launched by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on 9 February 2009 during the Multi-Sectoral Summit on Joining Hands Against the Global Crisis in Malacanan Palace, Manila. Project NARS aims to address the glut in inexperienced nurses, promote health of the people and bring the government closer to them. The idea is to mobilize nurses cooling their heels in their hometowns (due to low local and overseas demand for the services of inexperienced nurses) for work among their own people. Nurses will be mobilized in their hometowns as warriors for wellness to do the three Is: 1. Initiate primary health, school nutrition, maternal health programs, first line diagnosis; 2. Inform about community water sanitation practices and also do health surveillance; 3. Immunize children and mothers. They shall likewise serve as roving nurses for rural schools. Competencies gained by the nurses upon completion of the training program shall cover both clinical and public health sectors. The project shall provide nurses with learning and development opportunities to enhance their capacity to provide quality nursing and health care and consequently increase the nurses employability. B. Objectives 1. General Objective Project NARS aims to improve delivery of health care services to our population and create a pool of registered nurses with enhanced clinical and

preventive health management competencies for national public and private sector employment 2. Specific Objectives Provide registered nurses necessary competencies that encompass both community and preventive health practice as well as clinical skills; Address the shortages of skilled and experienced nurses, both domestic and overseas through a structured competency development program; Provide deployment opportunities for nurses in rural areas and underserved communities; Augment the nursing workforce of hospitals and rural health units in identified poor municipalities of needed clinical and public health nurses. C. Delivery Mechanism Nurses will be deployed at an average of 5 per town in the 1,000 poorest municipalities , for a six-months tour of duty. Another batch will be deployed for the second half of the year. These nurses will undergo training and development for competency enhancement in accordance with the training program designed by the PRC-BON in collaboration with DOH. The training program will cover both the clinical and public health functions. Nurse trainees will rotate in their assigned hospital or rural unit for a period of three (3) months. At the end of the third month, nurses who have completed their rotation in the hospital will be re-assigned to a rural unit and viceversa. A Certificate of Completion/Competency shall be issued jointly by the DOLE, DOH and PRC after an assessment of the gained competencies of nurse trainees. While on training, nurses will be given a stipend/allowance of P8,000.00 per month. This translates to about P366,00 per day for a forty (40) hours training /workweek. As these nurses are already in their hometowns, transportation expenses will no longer be a problem. The stipend of P8,000 may be increased if the host LGUs will offer a counterpart of say P2,000. LGUs may provide Philhealth coverage to nurse-trainees. Corporations may chip in by providing shirts, insurance, vitamins, etc., making the program a national enterprise with private equity. D. Expected Outcomes The NARS Project will: create a pool of 10,000 nurses who are adequatelytrained with enhanced clinical and public health

competencies and readily available for local and overseas employment; provide disposable money of P8,000 per month to 5,000 unemployed nurses for the first six months and to another 5,000 for the second half of the year, to help pump prime the economy; E. Recruitment, Selection and Deployment of Nurses 1. Recruitment and Selection Recruitment and selection shall be the responsibility of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), through its Regional Offices. Registered nurses who are physically and mentally fit and willing to serve in their hometowns and who meet the following qualifications may apply online, from February 20 to March 22, 2009, at www.nars.dole.gov.ph: With valid nurse license issued by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC); Not over 35 years old; . 3. Covered Municipalities The selection of the 1,000 poorest municipalities shall be based on the City and Municipal Poverty Incidence based on Small Area Poverty Estimates (SAE), 2003 of the National Statistical and Coordination Board/World Bank. This same SAE is being used by the DSWD in their Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program and also for prioritizing target households for their National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction. In view of the support to project NARS of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAPCARES), the GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), INC., PhilHealth, etc., additional municipalities will be covered. F. Government - Private sector Support to Project NARS Various healthcare stakeholders have responded enthusiastically to the call of the President for them to take part in Project NARS and make it a truly national enterprise with private equity. The Philippine Nurses association, the Association of Deans of the Philippine Colleges of Nursing, the Timetable of Activities First Batch (5,000 nurse-trainees): 1. Recruitment and Selection 20 February - 22 March 2. Posting List of Successful Applicants with Area of Assignments 26 March - 31 March 3. Orientation of Nurse Trainees Deployment to Area of Assignments 01 April - 02 April

promote the health of the people through the improvement of the delivery of nursing and health care services, particularly in the 1,000 poorest municipalities; and bring the government closer to the people. Resident of the identified municipalities/nearby municipalities; No nursing-related practice for the past 3 years. Nurse applicants who are dependents of workers affected by the Global Crisis (e.g. laid off/rotated, etc.,) shall be given priority in the selection. 2. Deployment List of successful applicants with their area of assignments shall be posted online at www.nars.dole.gov.phon March 26-31, 2009. An orientation shall be conducted jointly by the DOLE, DOH and PRC prior to training and duty. Nurses will be properly endorsed to their facilities of assignment

League of Philippine government Nurses, and the U.P. College of Nursing offered their services for free in the design and implementation of the training component of Project NARS. Mercan Canada Philippines, Inc., provided 10,000 medical kit back pack with medical equipment for use of nurse-trainees during their rural health assignments; Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Association of the Philippines, Inc. (PHAPCARES) sponsored 100 nurses for deployment to additional 20 poor municipalities. GlaxoSmithKline, Inc. likewise sponsored 100 nurses for deployment to additional 20 poor municipalities. PhilHealth committed to allocate the 1.5% of its budget for maintenance and operating expenses (MOOE) for 2009 to hire additional nurses (220 nurses) to be deployed to identified municipalities; and LGUs also granted additional allowance ranging from 500 to 2,000 per month to nurse-trainees, provided free board and lodging and free food when nursetrainees are on duty.

Second Batch 1. On-line application 1 May 25 September, 2009 2. Recruitment and Selection 12 June 30 September, 2009 3. Orientation of Nurse-Trainees 15 16 October, 2009 4. Tour of Duty 15 October 2009 15 April, 2010

The Nursing Profession in the Philippines Filipino nurses count among the best in the world. They are known for both competence and character. Presently, they are very much in demand in Europe, in the U.S., and neighboring countries. - Continuing education in nursing consists of planned learning experiences beyond a basic nursing educational program. These experiences are designed to promote the development of knowledge skills and attitudes for the enhancement of nursing practice, thus improving health care to the public. -Most of what counts as the nurses CPE is carried out through in-service training. Inservice focuses and is designed to re-train people; to improve their performance and communicative ability and to get them started on the never-ending continuum of education. -Moreover, they also have the choice of pursuing graduate studies, such as the program offered by the Institute of Nursing of the University of Asia and the Pacific. The trend in universities offering a Masters program is to prepare the graduate nurse for increased knowledge and skills in clinical nursing so that their major specialization may either be psychiatric nursing, maternal-child health nursing, public health nursing, or medical-surgical nursing. Others may go into the field of nursing administration or nursing education. -There are also short courses offered by other institutions aimed at enhancing their professional and personal growth. Filipino nurses belong to one of the following professional associations: The Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) The Department of Health National League of Nurses (DHNLN) Critical Care Nurses Association of the Philippines Psychiatric Nursing Specialists, Inc. Occupational Health Nurses Association of the Philippines Operating Room Nurses Association of the Philippines The PNA is the oldest society of nurses, founded way back in 1922 when it was then known as the Filipino Nurses Association. Presently, it publishes The Philippine Journal of Nursing, a useful source of information and updates for the nurses CPE. -Jacqueline P. Conclara, Nursing Brain Drain Causes Headache among Hospitals, BusinessWorld Weekender, June 22-23,2001, p. 26. -Lydia M. Venzon, Professional Nursing in the Philippines, Q.C., 1992, p. 153. -Ibid. -bid., p. 155. -Ibid., pp. 155-156.38 The objectives of the PNA include: To attain optimal level of professional standards To work for the welfare of the nurses To respond to the changing health needs of the Philippine society The CPE of nurses belonging to PNA is further enhanced by its departments, namely, the Department of Nursing Research and the Department of Professional Advancement. The former is tasked with the following objectives - Initiate, motivate and participate in research projects/studies related to nursing Disseminate findings of research studies among members Receive, keep and preserve records of research projects conducted by nurses Give due recognition to nurses who have conducted research studies in nursing. The Department of Professional Advancement oversees the progress and dynamic development of professional and cultured nurses and develop them to become effective leaders.

-One can glean from the foregoing information that PNA is dedicated to the members competence-building and performance-enhancement. Their actual work, which is a veritable service to others, gives them the opportunity to form good values and virtues and translate these into their daily behavior. The better hospitals in the country, like St. Lukes in Quezon City, employ the best nurses that we have. The DHNLN, which was incorporated in 1965, serves as the government sector counterpart of the PNA. Its objectives are similar to the latters: To help raise the standard of nursing in the Department of Health To contribute to the solution of problems concerning nurses and nursing services To disseminate knowledge in the nursing field through research and scientific studies In general, to help advance the science and art of nursing to meet the needs of a changing society. Besides professional nursing associations, CPE-related activities of the alumnae associations of schools of nursing in the country also contribute to the continuous upgrading of the skills and knowledge, and enhancing of values and attitudes of Filipino nurses. The quality of Filipino nurses is further honed as they work abroad. The demand for them has increased over the last few years. BusinessWorlds Jacqueline Conclara reports that After a decline of 37.58% and 10.39% was recorded in 1996 and 1997, the overseas deployment of nurses began a steady uptick in 1998 up to last year when it posted a growth of 42.38% from the 1999 figures of 5,413. -lbid., p. 160. Conclara, 2001: 26.39 The training and formation of nurses, and their actual GOOD performance in the field, not to mention the demand for Filipino nurses overseas, allow one to lodge PNA in the box where performance-enhancement and formation meet

CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL EDUCATIONCOUNCILS ORIENTATION RUFO R. MENDOZA, Ph.D., CPA Member, Professional Regulatory Board of AccountancyChair, PRC CPE Council for Accountancy September 18, 2008 TWO MILESTONE RESOLUTIONS PRC Resolution No.2008-465 Attendance to the CPE Courses Offered by CPECouncil and PRCAccredited CPE Providers as a Requirement for allProfessionals to be inGood Standing and Globally Competitive PRC Resolution No.2008-466 Repealing Resolution No. 2004-179, series of 2004,The Standardized Guidelines andProcedures for the Implementation of the CPE/CPD System for allProfessions and Implementation of Revised Standardized Guidelines andProcedures for the Implementationof the CPE/CPD System for allRegistered and LicensedProfessionals LEGAL BASES OF CPE RA 8981-PRC Modernization Act of 2000Specific Powers of PRC (Section7-a, n, and y) RegulatoryPolicies Regulation and licensing of various professionsand occupations, including the enhancement andmaintenance of professional and occupationalstandards and ethics and the enforcement ofthe rules and regulations. Rules andRegulations Effectively implement the policies Perform otherFunctions and Duties Carry out the provisions of the Act, various professional regulatory laws, decrees, executive orders, and other administrative issuances.

LEGAL BASES OF CPE RA8981-PRC Modernization Act of 2000Powers, Functions and Responsibilities of PRBs (Sec.9-b) T o monitor the conditions affecting the practice of the profession or occupation under their respective jurisdictions and Whenever necessary, adopt such measures as may be deemed proper for the enhancement of the profession or occupation and/or the maintenance of high professional, ethical, and technical standard Executive Order No. No. 220 Directing the Adoption of the Code of Good Governance for the Professions in the PhilippinesJune12, 2003T he Code was adopted by PRC and the43 PRBs, embodying principles of Professional conduct, integrity and objectivity, professional competence, and global competitiveness.