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| IT workers, engineers eyed for Japan market |
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Aside from nurses, the Philippines is also eyeing Japan as a market for information technology (IT) workers, engineers and architects under the country's free trade pact with Japan which President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo expects to sign before the end of the year, Senator Manuel “Mar” Roxas II said Thursday.
"It's an opportunity for us to graduate from being entertainers to professionals, to earn income in more dignified economic activities," Roxas said, referring to the Japan Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) which will soon be a landmark bilateral agreement between the two countries.
"We have the English-speaking workforce that Japan doesn't have; they're an aging economy, while we are relatively young," Roxas said during a gathering of Mindanao's network of communicators.
He expressed confidence the agreement would be signed by Japan and the Philippines before the end of the year, thus making it possible for the country's health care and IT engineering support professionals to work in Japan.
"That's why it's very important for us to prepare to take advantage of whatever opportunities this new agreement will present," Roxas said.
He said the government should make sure that Filipino workers could meet international standards to take full advantage of the agreement.
Roxas said the upcoming partnership with Japan will not only ensure jobs for the country's overseas contract workers (OCWs) but also boost existing industries here. Since industries in the Philippines and Japan tend to complement rather than compete with each other, Filipino firms will not be threatened in any way by the deluge of Japanese products coming here.
"Their high-technology exports do not, in any way, threaten our agri-based industries here," he said.
Japan's prime exports include cars, electronics and IT equipment, which hardly compete with the Philippines' agriculture-based economy," Roxas said.
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| Registered Nurses -
Nature of the work / Living and Working Conditions
/ Employment / / Job Outlook / Earnings |
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Significant Points
Registered nurses constitute the largest healthcare occupation,
with 2.3 million jobs.
-More
new jobs are expected to be created for registered nurses
than for any other occupation. -Job opportunities are
expected to be very good.
-The three major educational paths to registered nursing
are a bachelor’s degree, an associate degree, and
a diploma.
Nature of the Work
Registered nurses (RNs) work to promote health, prevent
disease, and help patients cope with illness. They are
advocates and health educators for patients, families,
and communities. When providing direct patient care, they
observe, assess, and record symptoms, reactions, and progress
in patients; assist physicians during surgeries, treatments,
and examinations; administer medications; and assist in
convalescence and rehabilitation. RNs also develop and
manage nursing care plans, instruct patients and their
families in proper care, and help individuals and groups
take steps to improve or maintain their health. While
State laws govern the tasks that RNs may perform, it is
usually the work setting that determines their daily job
duties.
Nursing care facility nurses manage care for residents
with conditions ranging from a fracture to Alzheimer’s
disease. Although they often spend much of their time
on administrative and supervisory tasks, RNs also assess
residents’ health, develop treatment plans, supervise
licensed practical nurses and nursing aides, and perform
invasive procedures, such as starting intravenous fluids.
They also work in specialty-care departments, such as
long-term rehabilitation units for patients with strokes
and head injuries.
Nursing care facility nurses manage care for residents
with conditions ranging from a fracture to Alzheimer’s
disease. Although they often spend much of their time
on administrative and supervisory tasks, RNs also assess
residents’ health, develop treatment plans, supervise
licensed practical nurses and nursing aides, and perform
invasive procedures, such as starting intravenous fluids.
They also work in specialty-care departments, such as
long-term rehabilitation units for patients with strokes
and head injuries.
Home health nurses provide nursing services to patients
at home. RNs assess patients’ home environments
and instruct patients and their families. Home health
nurses care for a broad range of patients, such as those
recovering from illnesses and accidents, cancer, and childbirth.
They must be able to work independently and may supervise
home health aides.
Public health nurses work in government and private agencies,
including clinics, schools, retirement communities, and
other community settings. They focus on populations, working
with individuals, groups, and families to improve the
overall health of communities. They also work with communities
to help plan and implement programs. Public health nurses
instruct individuals, families, and other groups regarding
health issues such as preventive care, nutrition, and
childcare. They arrange for immunizations, blood pressure
testing, and other health screening. These nurses also
work with community leaders, teachers, parents, and physicians
in community health education.
Occupational health nurses, also called industrial nurses,
provide nursing care at worksites to employees, customers,
and others with injuries and illnesses. They give emergency
care, prepare accident reports, and arrange for further
care if necessary. They also offer health counseling,
conduct health examinations and inoculations, and assess
work environments to identify potential or actual health
problems.
Head nurses or nurse supervisors - direct nursing activities,
primarily in hospitals. They plan work schedules and assign
duties to nurses and aides, provide or arrange for training,
and visit patients to observe nurses and to ensure that
the patients receive proper care. They also may ensure
that records are maintained and equipment and supplies
are ordered.
At the advanced level, nurse practitioners provide basic,
primary healthcare. They diagnose and treat common acute
illnesses and injuries. Nurse practitioners also can prescribe
medications—but certification and licensing requirements
vary by State. Other advanced practice nurses include
clinical nurse specialists, certified registered nurse
anesthetists, and certified nurse midwives. Advanced practice
nurses must meet educational and clinical practice requirements
beyond the basic nursing education and licensing required
of all RNs.
Living and Working Conditions
To ease the transition of the nurses being processed,
hired and deployed to U.S.A. by Worldwide-RN, the direct
U.S. affiliate of Philippine-RN, we ensure that each nurse
will be given assistance with his / her living conditions
during the first two months in the U.S. The nurse will
be given a reasonable allowance for the apartment rent
based on double occupancy and a reasonable allowance for
living expenses.
Worldwide-RN / Philippine-RN ensures that the nurses will
work in well-lighted, comfortable healthcare facilities.
Home health and public health nurses travel to patients’
homes, schools, community centers, and other sites. Nurses
may spend considerable time walking and standing. Patients
in hospitals and nursing care facilities require 24-hour
care; consequently, nurses in these institutions may work
nights, weekends, and holidays. RNs also may be on call—available
to work on short notice. To guarantee that the Nurse can
cope-up with these working condition, Philippine-RN make
sure that the nurse will undergo driving lessons and assist
in every way for the nurse to obtain her driving license.
Office, occupational health, and public health nurses
are more likely to work regular business hours. More than
1 in 5 RNs worked part time in 2002 and nearly 1 in 10
held more than one job.
Nursing has its hazards, especially in hospitals, nursing
care facilities, and clinics, in all three of which nurses
may care for individuals with infectious diseases. In
this regard, Worldwide-RN/Philippine-RN make sure that
the Nurses are well informed in observing rigid standardized
guidelines to guard against disease and other dangers,
such as those posed by radiation, accidental needle sticks,
chemicals used to sterilize instruments, and anesthetics.
In addition, they are vulnerable to back injury when moving
patients, shocks from electrical equipment, and hazards
posed by compressed gases.
Employment
As the largest healthcare occupation, registered nurses
held about 2.3 million jobs in 2002. Almost 3 out of 5
jobs were in hospitals, in inpatient and outpatient departments.
Others worked in offices of physicians, nursing care facilities,
home healthcare services, employment services, government
agencies, and outpatient care centers. The remainder worked
mostly in social assistance agencies and educational services,
public and private. About 1 in 5 RNs worked part time.
Job Outlook / Opportunities
Job opportunities for RNs are expected to be very good.
Employment of registered nurses is expected to grow faster
than the average for all occupations through 2012, and
because the occupation is very large, many new jobs will
result. In fact, more new jobs are expected be created
for RNs than for any other occupation. Thousands of job
openings also will result from the need to replace experienced
nurses who leave the occupation, especially as the median
age of the registered nurse population continues to rise.
Below is the list of U.S. Healthcare facilities that are
directly affiliated with Worldwide-RN:
· Quincy Medical Center (Quincy, Massachussettes)
· Health West Alliance (Yakima, Washington)
· Visiting Nurses Associations (Albany, New York)
· Bayonnet Point Health & Rehabilitation (New
Port Richey, Florida)
· Parkview Care Center (Billings, Montana)
· Winnebago Mental Health Institute (Winnebago,
Wisconsin)
· Wisconsin Resource Center (Winnebago, Wisconsin)
· Carver Care Living Center (Durham, North Carolina)
· Sierra Health Care (Truth or Consequences, New
Mexico)
· Mee Hospital (Santa Barbara, California)
· Cheyenne Care Center (Cheyenne, Oklahoma)
Earnings / Salaries
The law requires that U.S. sponsoring employers pay foreign
nurses (i.e., nurses hired outside the U.S.A.) either
the local prevailing wage or the actual wage paid by the
sponsoring employer to its other employees in the same
or similar positions, whichever is greater, and pay for
their non-productive time. Sponsoring employers must also
offer its hired foreign nurses benefits on the same basis
as it offers them to its U.S. workers.
Local prevailing wages are determined by the Employment
Security Commissions / Agencies (referred to generally
as SESA) of each state. A request for prevailing wage
form is generally one-page long and takes anywhere from
24-hours up to four (4) weeks to receive response from
SESA, depending on how busy a particular office is at
the time. |
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| DOLE, Microsoft launch
I.T. program for OFWs |
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The Department of Labor and Employment
(DOLE) and Microsoft Philippines have embarked on a joint
information and technology project for overseas Filipino
workers and their families aimed at helping OFWs become
more globally competitive.
Labor and Employment Secretary Patricia A. Sto. Tomas
and Microsoft president for Asia-Pacific Sanjay Mirchandani
formally launched the joint I.T. project on Tuesday in
a launching cum press conference at the Manila Hotel.
Sto. Tomas and Mirchandani announced that the project
would provide IT trainings to at least 3,600 OFWs and
their dependents in Manila, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.
The joint project was made possible through the collaboration
of DOLE Undersecretary for Special Concerns Susan Ople
and Lori Forman, Microsoft Regional Director for Community
Affairs.
Ople said two training courses would be offered to beneficiaries.
These are for departing OFWs primarily on the use of the
Internet and e-mail with word processing and spreadsheets
as an optional course; and for OFW dependents on basic
word processing, Internet applications and other I.T.
short courses.
"Short courses will run a maximum of three days while
a computer familiarization and Internet usage will be
taught for a minimum of four hours," she said.
Under the program, Microsoft Philippines shall provide
a total of US$77,000 for the conduct of the IT trainings
in the three sites -- in Manila, which will be handled
by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA),
and in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, which will be supervised
by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO). The amount
covers the cost of computer hardware, software, training
modules and salaries of trainors.
The office of Undersecretary Ople and the OWWA will spearhead
the project implementation. OWWA Director Rustico SM.
Dela Fuente said the project will start as soon as the
needed equipment has been purchased. OFWs may inquire
about the project at 891-7601 local 5201.
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