The Volunteer Phenomenon of Nurses in the Philippines

Graduate nurses are now facing massive unemployment and underemployment. Statistics of unemployed Filipino nurses hit 150,000 in 2008. Newly licensed nurses would volunteer to work in the hospitals to get the needed experience and training. The Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) claims that volunteer nurses are being exploited by requiring volunteers to pay a fee while availing of the volunteers’ professional services. This study aims to explore the nature of volunteer programs and to measure the volunteer nurses’ level of self-concept. Utilizing both quantitative and qualitative methods, the respondents were chosen using purposive sampling technique. Focused group discussion (FGD) with volunteer nurses and interview with hospital administrators were both utilized. Questionnaire on Professional Self-Concept Scale was used. Data were analyzed using the SPSS software. The result of the study showed that newly graduate nurses enter into volunteerism program offered by different hospitals to gain clinical experience for future employment. This study concludes that graduate nurses are most likely to volunteer because of lack of opportunity to work.

 

 

Keywords - volunteer nursing program, nurse’s self-concept, newly graduate nurses