Lawmaker eyes higher wages for nurses
THE BASE pay of government nurses should be increased amid the brain drain involving nursing graduates, Quezon City Rep. Marvin D. Rillo said in a statement on Sunday.
“Congress should not dilly-dally in raising the base pay of our public nurses who are being pirated by other countries,” he said.
A total of 18,104 Filipino nursing graduates spent a combined P200 million to take licensure examinations in the United States (US) from January to June, the lawmaker said.
This was more than twice the number of Philippine-educated nurses who took the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) for the first time, not counting repeaters, a year earlier, he added.
An applicant must pay $200 (P11,107) to take the US licensure exam for nurses, according to the NCLEX website.
Mr. Rillo expects 46% of Filipino applicants to pass the exams.
His House Bill 5276 seeks to raise the monthly pay of government nurses to salary grade 21 or about P64,000 a month. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz
