MANILA, Philippines -- While the Department of Health (DoH) said that there are at least 200,000 jobless nurses nationwide, a group of health workers said Sunday that the country is currently in need of at least 40,000 nurses to complement about 28,000 already employed in both public and private hospitals in the country.

With this development, the Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD) asked the Aquino government to employ more nurses in the country by filling the gap in nursing care in both public and private hospitals nationwide.

Estimates from HEAD show that the nursing workforce in government institutions needs to be augmented by as much as 60 percent to achieve the recommended nurse-to-patient ratio. A government hospital director earlier said that the ideal ratio of nurses in the charity wards is one nurse for every 10 patients. In an intensive care unit, the ideal ratio should be one nurse per patient.

“Currently, there only about 28,000 nurses employed in both public and private hospitals in the country, and an additional 40,000 are needed,” the HEAD said in a statement.

HEAD also lamented the inability of government nurses to benefit from the provisions of the Nursing Act of 2002 despite the recently approved P22 increase in emergency cost of living allowance (COLA).

“The problem of the nursing employment also reflects the Aquino government’s priorities in terms of health services, let alone its care for healthcare providers. Its RN HEALS (Registered Nurses for Health Enhancement And Local Service) program is a mere slipshod one-year temporary volunteer work without full compensation and benefits,” Dr. Geneve Rivera, HEAD secretary general, said.

HEAD’s statement was a reaction to Health Secretary Enrique T. Ona’s pronouncement, discouraging students from taking up nursing course in college and instead pursue degrees related to mathematics, engineering, and science and technology. He said that there are 200,000 jobless nurses nationwide.

Ona’s statement was made in Baguio City during a dialogue with provincial health officers of the provinces north of Manila.

HEAD said asking students to merely shift to other courses is a “tactless commentary that exposes the lack of leadership and vision in terms of developing the country’s health human resources.”

HEAD emphasized that it is the government’s relentless policy of peddling nurses abroad that created the problem of unemployment among nurses.

“Like the past Arroyo administration, the current Aquino administration continues to facilitate the steady supply of nurses for deployment abroad,” it said.