The chairman of the House of Representatives Health Committee has asked the Higher Education Commission to allow the reopening of nursing courses due to the shortage of health workers, especially nurses in the country and abroad. Quezon Rep. Angelina Tan, leader of the group, also urged House of Representatives leaders to review the moratorium on nursing programs as contained in the CHED 32 memorandum order, which was issued in 2010. CHED imposed the moratorium on the opening of all undergraduate and graduate nursing programs and four other courses starting in the 2011-2012 school year due to the proliferation of colleges offering undergraduate and graduate programs. graduate studies and due to a gradual decline in the performance of nursing graduates, which indicated the deterioration of education in nursing courses. Tan, in a privileged speech, said that “even before the COVID-19 pandemic, a global shortage of nurses was already predicted.” This was highlighted in a report by the World Health Organization which calls for urgent investment in nursing care as the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the need for nurses. Tan is a registered nurse who continued her education to become a doctor. “The role of nurses in our healthcare system cannot be overstated, not only in delivering quality healthcare, but also in achieving our Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They make a vital contribution to the achievement of national and global goals related to a range of health priorities, including universal health care, mental health and communicable and noncommunicable diseases, preparedness and response to emergency situations. emergency, patient safety and the provision of integrated people-centered services. care, ”said Tan, adding that“ data from the pre-COVID-19 pandemic reveals that the world does not have a global nursing workforce commensurate with universal health coverage and the SDGs goals ”.

“Given this context and its potential impact on our healthcare system, I think the time has come for CHED to assess the relevance of CMO 32. In fact, this representation urges the Higher Education Commission to allow other educational institutions to open new nursing programs to enable us to produce more nurses, ”Tan said. The World Health Organization’s ‘State of World Nursing 2020’ predicts that without action there will be a deficit of 4.6 million nurses globally by 2030. In the Philippines, the The projected deficit of nurses is expected to be 249,843 by 2030, unless an increased investment is made now to retain them in the Philippine health sector.