NARS program benefits 6 Mountain Province towns
BONTOC, Mountain Province — Six towns in this province will benefit from the implementation of the national government’s Nurses Assigned in Rural Service (NARS) program intended to improve health services.
The towns of Paracelis, Natonin, Barlig, Sadanga, Besao, and Tadian, will be getting five nurses each to boost the health-care and employment programs.
The NARS program was envisioned to generate employment for unemployed nurses who are tasked to perform public health functions and clinical work.
This is expected to enhance their employability in local hospitals and eventually in medical centers abroad.
The nurses hired by the national government will be deployed in their hometowns as "warriors of wellness" to undertake primary health care, school nutrition, maternal health programs.
They will also conduct first-line diagnosis, inform the community of water sanitation practices, hold health surveillance, and immunize mothers and children.
The nurses will be receiving an allowance of P8,000 per month, and because they will be working in their hometowns, the transportation will not be a big problem on their part.
Earlier, the national government announced it will be hiring at least 5,000 nurses in the whole country under the NARS program whose objective is to strengthen the delivery of the basic health-care services especially in rural areas where there are no health clinics.
Despite the full implementation of the program in the different provinces, the Department of Health said those qualified under program are registered nurses who are physically and mentally fit and willing to serve in their hometowns and who meet the other requirements such as valid license issued by the Professional Regulation Commission, not over 25 years old, resident of the identified beneficiary municipality and those who had no nursing related practice in the past one to three years.
The six provinces in the Cordillera -- Apayao, Abra, Benguet, Kalinga, Ifugao and Mountain Province -- were identified as beneficiaries of the NARS program.
Mountain Province has distributed its allocations to the fourth-to-sixth-class municipalities that badly need additional health workers.
Health authorities said employment under the NARS program is a giant step towards gaining experience in the profession. This would help the nurses when they apply for overseas employment. – By Dexter A See
The program's vision of generating employment among unemployed and inexperienced nurses is really a big help. But they have to consider that these nurses need to generate income. They were only given 8,000 pesos as monthly allowance..... and yet the release was delayed. Well the thought that they are in the rural areas might be an excuse, but come to think of it, the money is wired through ATM. How come those nurses assigned in the mountain province got seven thousand plus only for the month of April? Where did the extra hundreds go? It's already June and only 4,000 was received for the month of May. Was it really like this? Though these people are assigned in the "far flang" rural areas, they also have a body and family to feed.That 8,000 pesos is a big deal because they have worked for it and it should be given on time.
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