A LEADER in the House of Representatives on Saturday said Filipinos remain the most active job-seekers in America, as a total of 2,509 Philippine-educated nurses took the US National Licensure Examination (NCLEx) for the first time, from January to June this year.
House Assistant Majority Leader and Nacionalista Party Rep. Gerald Anthony Gullas Jr. of Cebu said these Filipino nurses hope to obtain gainful employment in America.
“The number is up 28.6 percent versus the 1,951 Filipino nurses who took the NCLEx for the first time, excluding repeaters, in the first semester of 2014,” said Gullas, vice chairman of the House committee on higher and technical education.
“The number of Filipino nurses taking the NCLEx for the first time is considered a good indicator, as to how many of them are trying to obtain US licenses or seek gainful employment in America,” he said.
Since 1995, a total of 159,877 Filipino nurses have taken the NCLEx for the first time, including 4,580 nonrepeaters who took the test in 2014. The NCLEx is administered by the US (National Council of) State Boards of Nursing Inc. (USNCSBN).
USNCSBN statistics show that among foreign-educated nurses, Filipinos remain the most active job-seekers in America, according to Gullas.
The lawmaker said 395 Indians, 236 Puerto Ricans, 195 South Koreans and 130 Jamaicans also took the NCLEx for the first time from January to June this year.
Gullas said a Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA)-licensed recruitment firm will screen qualified Filipino nurses for possible deployment to the United Kingdom and Singapore, with indicative monthly pay rates of £1,500 (P107,000) and S$1,950 (P65,000), respectively.
He said the screening will be conducted at the Cebu Provincial Capitol’s Public Employment Service Office on August 17 and 18.
Gullas said he has been pushing Congress to restore the entry-level basic monthly pay of public nurses to Salary Grade (SG) 15, the equivalent of P24,887.
The Nursing Law of 2002, or Republic Act 9173, fixed the starting pay of public nurses at SG 15. However, the Salary Standardization Law III later effectively reduced their pay rating to SG 11, or P18,549.