A total of 28,258 Filipino nursing graduates took the US licensure examination for the first time in 2024, driven by higher salaries and better career prospects abroad, a Quezon City congressman said on Sunday.
Rep. Marvin Rillo, vice chairperson of the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education, attributed the high number of examinees to inadequate compensation in the Philippines.
He cited data from the US National Council of State Boards of Nursing Inc., which also recorded 5,869 nursing graduates from India, 3,740 from Kenya, 2,662 from Nepal, and 2,636 from South Korea taking the exam last year.
Rillo estimates that 54 percent of first-time Filipino test-takers pass the US exam, while 36% of repeat takers succeed.
To address the nursing exodus, Rillo authored House Bill No. 5276, which aims to increase the monthly salary of entry-level government nurses to PHP70,013 (Salary Grade 21) from the current PHP40,208 (Salary Grade 15). Meanwhile, Senator Raffy Tulfo’s Senate Bill 2694 proposes a 40% pay hike to PHP56,390 (Salary Grade 19). Both measures seek to amend the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002.
The Philippines faces a nursing shortage of 127,000, projected to rise to 250,000 by 2030, according to the World Health Organization.
