Pinay nurses narrate valuable experiences working abroad

Fair compensation.  Higher overtime pay.  Complete protective gears.  Safe workplace.

Filipino nurses abroad said these are some of the perks they get working as health professionals that make them stay abroad.

Divina in Italy, Kristine in the United Kingdom, Joyce in Australia, Paula in Singapore and Eleanor in the United States said they are able to endure the perils brought by 

According to Shai Lagarde's report on "Stand for Truth," being valued and taken care of by the hospitals where they are working help them endure the perils of working as nurses especially in the time of COVID-19.

“Your working hours is strictly 37.5 hours a week, so you do three shifts a week, which is 12 hours. During coronavirus, luckily they didn’t ask us to [work] overtime,” Kristine said.

Kristine said her salary per month is more than £2,200 or P140,000.

“Night shifts, weekends, or holidays, you get paid more. You can choose to do extra shifts, it can go up £3,000 kung masipag ka mag-overtime,” she said.

As medical frontliners, their health and benefits were also given priority.

“In my hospital kasi during coronavirus, we were lucky kasi they enhanced our salary. If you’re a health care worker dito sa NHS, what happens when you get symptoms or when you live with someone who develops symptoms, you contact the occupational health who is in charge for getting you tested and everything is for free,” she said.

“And while you’re off sick everything is paid, you still get your basic salary. It doesn’t count as your sick leave, it counts as a special leave for COVID,” she added.

Kristine said she hopes nurses in the Philippines would be accorded the same value because of their critical work.

“People are saying na nurses are all leaving na parang walang sense of patriotism. If you really know what it's like to work as a nurse in the Philippines, I don’t think you’d say that,” Kristine said.

“People don’t respect you as much, they don’t value you as much. We are well appreciated overseas so sana sa Pilipinas ganon din,” she added.—Joahna Lei Casilao/LDF, GMA News