THE Commission on Higher Education yesterday presented to President Marcos Jr. plans to address the shortage of nurses and physicians in the country.
CHED Chairman Prospero de Vera said the measures include long-term, medium-term, and immediate actions to address the shortage brought about by nurses who chose to work abroad due to higher salaries.
For the long-term solution, De Vera said, CHED has lifted the 10-year moratorium on the creation of new nursing programs.
“So, there are 54 universities that applied to open nursing programs and our estimate is that these 54 universities, once approved, can produce about 2,052 students by academic year 2027-2028,” De Vera said in a briefing in Malacañang.
For the medium-term plan, he said, CHED is coordinating with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to train nursing graduates who did not pass the licensure exams to become healthcare assistance/associates.
He said these healthcare associates can get the blood pressure and temperature of patients, and other non-essential matters which can lessen the load of regular nurses.
He said CHED is also developing a fast-track master’s program which most schools lack due to the low number of qualified professors who are also being recruited for high-paying jobs abroad.
He said the immediate actions would involve providing licensure exams flunkers with free review in universities which have a high passing rate of nursing graduates who take the licensure test.
