Demand for Nurses thriving despite the downturn

It’s nice to see, that despite the economic downturn, the health sector is still showing increased demand for health workers. Particularly nurses.

Last month’s Philippine nursing exam takers numbered 90,000. As a nursing professional you can’t help but worry if there are jobs that are waiting for you after you have completed your studies and passed your professional exam.

According to a report, King Fahd Medical Center has linked up with more than two Philippine recruitment agencies to fill up the vacancies, numbering from 50,000 to 60,000 (source). They are expecting only 1 in 5 jobs can be filled by Filipino’s due to the huge demand. One of the main reasons is because the nurses haven’t the required skill set, which is mainly job experience. Also that there aren’t enough hospitals in the Philippines that can absorb the fresh grads in order for them to gain their experience. Even those nursing graduates who volunteered to work for free are having a hard time as the Saudi’s do not honor their volunteer certificates.

Overseas Nursing Job Opening Updates:

• United States will need 1.2 Million Nurses by 2014 - US Department of Health and Human Services report shows that the the US will need 500,000 nurses to replace those retiring and 700,000 more to take care of the incoming batch of retirees.
• Nursing Recruiters in the US offering “perks” to attract nurses - the shortage of qualified nurses in the US is leading recruiters to offer such bizarre perks as flatscreen tv’s, GPS and $1000 shopping spree’s in order to attract nurses to work for their clients.
• Japan opens up to Filipino nursing applicants.

Some nurses I talked to before said that although there was a huge demand for nurses in the Middle East, they preferred to look for work elsewhere because of the huge pay difference between nurses from western countries. The agency however suggested that working in the Middle East be used as a stepping stone so that one can gain experience so that they can easily apply for jobs in the higher paying countries.

Nursing has always been viewed as a noble profession, full of self sacrifice and giving to one’s fellow man. It is clean and honest work that one can be proud of. Because its also a job that commands a huge salary and seemingly limitless job openings in other countries there has been a deluge of applicants to nursing schools in the Philippines.

A huge demand for nurses means a healthy demand for goods and services that an industrious entrepreneur can tap. This huge demand for nurses has a trickle down effect on the economy. Aside from the money sent by OFW nurses to fill the country’s coffers, there are those who are making a living setting up shops near nursing schools.

Since there are only a few “credible” schools that can teach Nursing in the country, students flock to these schools like bee’s to a flower. This creates a market for industries willing to support the requirements of the nursing student. Such as sellers of medical books and paraphernalia. Eateries and Boarding houses. I even heard of somebody supplying cats and other small creatures used in biology classes for dissection.

Just some of the small businesses I’ve seen that are specifically for this profession are suppliers for Nursing Uniforms, Nursing Kits, Used medical books, tutorials etc. I even heard of people selling jewelry targeted specifically for nurses. That’s where the money is so entrepreneurs follow.

In this year of recession, medical jobs a long with teaching jobs and accounting jobs are but the few industries that still have a healthy demand for workers.