Nurses working in the Government: Advantages and Disadvantages

RNs working for the state receives higher salaries as compared to nurses working in the private sector. On top of the
basic monthly salary, they also receive monthly extra compensation like Hazard Pay, PERAA, Laundry Allowance,
Subsistence Allowance, annual clothing allowance and cash gift, PHIC Honorarium every 3 months and Affiliation Fee
every 6 months. A Staff Nurse in a plantilla / full time position receives average of Php 17,500 per month but still
subject to deductions and excluding the additional compensation not given on a monthly basis. Aside from the
excellent pay, they are also exposed to a lot major cases to handle making them well - trained and highly -experienced
when it comes to the nursing management of diseases. The experiences that they get from these government
hospitals make them very attractable and marketable to employers overseas.

Disadvantages includes increased number of workload, less supplies and equipment making their practice unideal but
at the same time making them very resourceful. Less budget to purchase supplies affects the quality of care provided
by government nurses.

Nurses working in Private Hospitals: Pros and Cons

The benefits of working in a private hospital include the use of highly sophisticated equipments such as tstate-of-the-
art cardiac monitors and other life - saving machines used by hospitals in first world countries. Nurses are also able to
practice the ideal standards set by the profession and accrediting institutions since they do not experience scarcity of
supplies.

However, these nurses only receive a small amount of compensation ranging from Php 8,000 to 10,000 per month in
most hospitals. They are also less exposed to medical cases which limits their clinical experience.

Overall deterioration of public health services

Respondents spoke at length about the underlying tensions and structural problems responsible for creating such
situations.

Shortages of drugs, linen and other items are a major concern. Many staff reported that patients and their relatives are
often angry about having to pay for services that are supposed to be free. Several doctors mentioned that even life-saving
drugs like adrenaline are often missing in emergency rooms and operating theatres. Sometimes the drugs are just not
available; at other times, adequate stocks may not be maintained in each ward or outpatient department. Doctors
complained about having to do the administrative work of stock maintenance at the cost of providing medical care.

A senior doctor illustrated how problems of supply irritate patients. The list of drugs in stock, displayed in the hospital out
patient department (OPD), is not regularly updated and doctors in the OPD prescribe drugs based on the outdated list. At
the dispensary patients are told that the drugs are out of stock; either they must be purchased from outside at their own
expense or they must get the prescription changed, which means going back to the crowded OPD.

Further, diagnostic equipment such as ultrasound and X-ray machines are routinely out of order, forcing patients to get
these investigations done at private centres for a fee.

Residents noted that staff shortages also force relatives to take on substantial responsibility for nursing the patient. They
are required to be present almost round the clock in the hospital. Yet there are no bathing, resting or food facilities for
them. NEHA MADHIWALLA, Indian journal of medical ethics,apr 2003,pg2

TS rooms and hallways cramped with diarrhea patients, the Danao City District Hospital has set up a tent outside the
building to accommodate the rising number of residents afflicted with the disease.

At noon yesterday, hospital personnel were still busy attending to patients, mostly children, as they arrived one after
another.
Greet your friends and families this Sinulog season. Sun.Star covers Sinulog 2011 live!
Jhea Villena, 4, who was rushed to the hospital Sunday night, was among the patients lying on folding beds outside the
hospital.

She vomited several times and suffered from loose bowel movement (LBM) last Saturday, just a day after she was
discharged from another hospital, where she was treated for dengue fever.

Since the diarrhea outbreak was first reported last Thursday, 111 residents of Danao City have already been brought
to the district hospital for treatment.

But some of the patients downplayed the role of water in the outbreak, saying they only drink mineral water.

Villena’s aunt, Merceditas Saing, 34, said the outbreak may have been caused by contaminated air.

“We only drink mineral water. If there’s no mineral water, we boil the water from the faucet. I think it’s the air that
carried the disease,” she said in Bisaya.

Aniza Sarda, 26, could not recall her one-year-old son drinking tap water before he suffered from LBM and began
vomiting. Her child was rushed to the hospital Saturday afternoon.

The chicken farm situated in their barangay may have caused her son’s diarrhea, she said.

“The farm carried out immunization. It’s near the spring so it may have contaminated the water in the process,” Sarda
said in Bisaya.

But some patients, like Obet Bastatas, 23, admitted they used to drink tap water without boiling it first.

Bastatas, a woodcraft worker in Barangay Taboc, was admitted Friday night.

Pilarino Hermosilla, 27, also said that he did not use to boil water from the tap before drinking it. He was admitted
early yesterday morning.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on December 01, 2010.