Filipino Nurse

Implement Salary Grade 15 for Entry-Level Public Nurses – Sen. Bam to DBM

Senator Bam Aquino has asked the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to fully implement the law which provides salary grade 15 to entry-level government nurses.

“The DBM should provide the necessary funding so that the salary grade 15 mandated by law for entry-level government nurses must be fulfilled,” Aquino said during the hearing of the Committee on Civil Service and Government Reorganization.

 According to latest data from the Department of Health (DOH), approximately P450 million is needed to fully implement the salary mandated by Republic Act No. 9173 or The Philippine Nursing Act of 2002.

When asked by Aquino on why RA 9173 is not being implemented, DOH Undersecretary Teodoro Herbosa blamed the lack of funding from the DBM for its failure.

The DBM, for its part, admitted that DOH has already created nursing positions starting at salary grade 15.

However, the DBM said it cannot implement the salary grade adjustment because it will ruin the hierarchal relationship with other medical and allied positions.

“We seek that the law be fully implemented and give the nurses their proper compensation,” Aquino stressed.

“This is the budget season. This is the best time to talk about it so the law can be funded,” Aquino stressed.

Senate Bill No. 2366: Nurse in Every Public School Act

Delivering quality education isn’t just a matter of delivering instructional modules inside the classroom. Quality education, that every Filipino child deserves, is holistic in nature. It is concerned with the whole self – physical, mental and spiritual.

With a fifth of the Filipino populace under the poverty line, health-related issues of school children abound, thus hampering their ability to learn and retain lessons and skills. Some students might even be forced to skip school days due to sickness, further impeding their ability to learn.

Thus, this measure proposes that students’ access to basic heaIth care services in schools be assured by requiring every public school to employ at least one registered nurse to look after the health and nutritional needs of its students.

Nurses are as important as other support personnel in the school system.1 They attend to the physical and mental-health needs of students. They can even spearhead programs to promote nutrition and contribute health-related content in the curriculum.

Having a nurse in every school emphasizes the value of health, nutrition and well-being as part of the formation of our Filipino children.

In view of the foregoing, the approval of this bill is earnestly sought.

 

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