Gov't still looking for clinical care associates amid shortage of nurses

The Philippine government continues to look for more clinical care associates (CCA) in the country to address the need for more nurses, according to the Private Sector Advisory Council-Healthcare Sector Group (PSAC-HSG).

The PSAC-HSG said this during a meeting with President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. on Wednesday to discuss updates on the recommendations for the establishment of a resilient and responsive healthcare system. 

According to PSAC Healthcare Sector Lead Paolo Borromeo, the first batch of 457 CCAs has been matched to seven higher educational institutions for board reviews. He said the recruitment is ongoing for the second batch of CCAs for the May 2025 board examinations.

“To date, we have 457 CCAs out of 1,000 that we have budget for. So, we continue to look for more CCAs around the country. It’s a work in progress, I think 457 additional nurses, assuming all of them passed, will be a big addition to our list of nurses,” Borromeo said. 

“And with the CHED’s (Commission on Higher Education) leadership and guidance, with Chair Popoy (de Vera)'s  championship, we developed the program to encourage both public sector and the private sector to look for the nursing underboards in their respective institutions and to try to enroll them in a review program so that they can take the test, which the next one I believe is in November," he added.

Borromeo also noted that records have shown an increase in nursing board passers starting 2022 onwards as compared to the pre-pandemic years due to the recalibrated curriculum.

He added that the Enhanced Master’s Degree in Nursing Program was approved for roll-out with pilot implementation in 17 HEIs by August of this year.

This is in addition to the ongoing inter-agency collaboration on various programs such as bilateral labor agreements, Balik Nurse Program, and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority-Commission on Higher Education Credit Transfer. --VAL, GMA Integrated News