Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2004, published 93rd ILC session (2005)

Nursing Personnel Convention, 1977 (No. 149) - Philippines (Ratification: 1979)

The Committee notes the information contained in the Government’s report and the attached documentation, in particular the adoption of the new Nursing Act of 2002 (Republic Act No. 9173). The Committee requests the Government to forward a copy of the corresponding rules and regulations as soon as they are adopted, and wishes to draw the Government’s attention to the following points.

Article 2, paragraphs 1 and 2, of the Convention. Recalling the Government’s earlier statement that the Department of Health in coordination with other public health-related agencies and professional associations has been preparing a nationwide Nursing Development Plan, the Committee requests the Government to specify whether this Plan has been finalized, and if so, to provide detailed information on its contents and the measures taken for its implementation.

Moreover, the Committee notes the findings of the second part of the study on the problems of nursing employment, which was undertaken by the National Institute of Health of the University of the Philippines-Manila and published in 2000. According to the authors of this study, the growth of nurses in recent years has been astronomical; whereas in 1990 there were 125 schools which produced 173,659 registered nurses, in 2000 there were approximately 182 schools and 323,490 nurses. At the same time, the reported demand for nurses, both domestic and international, is estimated at nearly 180,000 nursing positions of which only 15 per cent represents the local demand, or 27,160 jobs. The Committee notes that among the various policy options formulated in the study, it is proposed that the Board of Nursing should implement stricter standards regarding the opening and closing of nursing colleges/universities and that it should publish a list of non-performing schools. It is also recommended that the nurse-patient ratios should be reviewed, that independent nursing practice/entrepreneurship should be encouraged, and that the salary levels and working conditions of nurses in private institutions should be improved to make nursing positions more attractive than non-nursing positions. The Committee requests the Government to indicate in its next report whether any follow-up action is taken or contemplated with respect to the above proposals and to provide detailed particulars on any other initiative designed to reduce the huge nursing surplus.

In addition, the Committee notes that under section 34 of the Magna Carta for Public Health Workers of 1992 (Republic Act No. 7305), a Congressional Commission on Health (HEALTHCOM) was set up to periodically review and assess health human resource development, particularly on continuing professional education and training, and that the report of this Commission to be rendered once every five years should serve as the basis for policy legislation in the field of health. The Committee requests therefore the Government to communicate the most recent report of the Congressional Commission on Health and to indicate any policy decisions taken or envisaged in the light of the Commission’s recommendations.

Article 5, paragraph 1. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government concerning the increased membership and broader powers and functions of the Board of Nursing under sections 3 and 9 of the new Nursing Act of 2002. It notes in particular that the members of the Board are appointed among persons representing the three major areas of nursing, namely nursing education, nursing and service and community health nursing. It also notes that the Board is engaged in joint projects such as the finalization and publication of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act 9173, the promulgation of a revised Code of Ethics for the nursing profession, and the development of criteria and mechanism for the certification of nursing specialty organizations while its principal activities include the conduct of the Integrated Comprehensive Nursing Licensure Examination (ICNLE), the inspection of nursing schools and review centres and also the monitoring of hospitals for safe nursing practice. The Committee would be grateful to the Government for continuing to supply all available information on the responsibilities and work plan of the Board of Nursing. It would appreciate receiving a copy of its latest annual report, provided for in section 10 of the Nursing Act of 2002, including any recommendations for the adoption of measures aimed at upgrading and improving the nursing practice, as well as a copy of the revised Code of Ethics as soon as it is formally adopted.

Article 5, paragraph 2. The Committee has been requesting the Government for years to indicate whether the enabling laws governing collective bargaining in the public sector have been enacted and also to report on the revision of the Civil Service Code which contains provisions on this subject. In the absence of any clear reply on this point, the Committee once again asks the Government to specify the steps it intends to take to give effect to this Article of the Convention which provides that the determination of conditions of employment and work of nursing personnel should preferably be made by negotiation between employers’ and workers’ organizations concerned.

Article 7. Further to its previous comments concerning the need to take measures to adapt the legislation on health and safety at work to the particular risk of accidental exposure to HIV/AIDS, the Committee requests the Government to report on any new developments or initiatives on these matters. The Committee recalls, in this connection, that the Government has not reported on the outcome of the Senate Bill No. 1674 concerning regulations to minimize the risk of needle-stick injury to health-care workers, to which it had made reference in its 1999 report, and therefore asks the Government to provide up-to-date information on legal and other measures taken to protect nursing personnel from HIV infection.

Part V of the report form. The Committee would be grateful if the Government could continue to supply information on the application of the Convention in practice, including for instance statistics on the number of nurses currently employed in both the public and private sectors, the number of students attending nursing schools and the number of nurses leaving the country or the profession, copies of official reports examining the employment and working conditions of nursing personnel, as well as any practical difficulties encountered in the implementation of the Convention.