The Philippines’ recommended ratio of nurses to patients is 1:12, but the actual ratio of nurses to patients varies from 1:50 to 1:80, depending on the region of the country. While the nursing workforce continues to deplete, the workloads of those nurses remaining in service continue to increase.
On R.A. 9173’s Declaration of Policy (Article II), it was declared that the state is responsible for the protection and improvement of the nursing profession and it is also the state’s responsibility to provide the Filipino people quality basic health services through an adequate nursing personnel system throughout the country.
The nobler a decision we have to make, the more people we need to hear for us to have a wider perspective on the issue and to have the needed sensitivity to the ethical implications of our decisions.
Nurses were expecting that Senate Bill 270/House Bill 6411 also known as the Comprehensive Nursing Law of 2016 will be passed into law because its provisions align with the government’s vision for the future of the country’s health care system with nurses serving as one of its backbones.
The Philippine Nursing Act of 2002 (RA 9713) focuses more on how to improve the nursing profession and ensure the global competitiveness of Filipino Nurses.