Nursing in the Philippines
The advance of nursing in the Philippines as a career was pioneered by a culture of care that is intrinsic in the Filipino people.
[2] Only a limited number of Filipino women received primary education in charitable institutions established by China, this trend continued during the World War 2 colonial era.
[5] During Spain's colonial rule (1521–1898) the Philippine education system offered distinct and unequal opportunities for Filipinos based on gender.
An example of this sexism was allowing only limited numbers of women to receive primary education in Spanish charitable institutions.
[3] To many elite Filipinos, the Spanish colonial hospitals were places where those who were not so fortunate to have homes, spent their last days until death.
[4] At the time of the Philippine Revolution many women transformed their homes into quarters to nurse Filipino soldiers and revolutionaries.
Because she did not reveal any information to the Spanish about the location of the rebel leader, Aquino was deported to Guam in the Marianas.
Aquino's work caring for the ill and the wounded during the revolution has brought comparisons to the British Florence Nightingale.
[6] Although the Philippines had gained independence from Spain, the United States began to instill their power upon the islands, and a conflict broke out between the Filipinos and the Americans.
Nursing education, like teaching and missionary work in the Philippines, provided white American women with a sense of purpose in the colony.
[4] This influence then continued with the building of many hospitals where American nurses took charge and Filipino women began to learn under careful eyes.
Hall, missionaries of the Presbyterian Foreign Mission Board from the United States, a temporary bamboo clinic was erected at Calle Amparo (now Ledesma Street), Iloilo City, to serve as a venue for the treatment of health care to the very poor.
He made it clear to his constituents that the new government was still going to rely heavily on US financial support in order to rehabilitate its national economy.
Already trained by Americans, Filipino nurses were the perfect candidates to assist the US and other countries experiencing post-World War II shortages.
The negative effects were also seen in the US, as American salaries decreased because Philippine nurses who newly arrive would work the same job at a lower wage.
[12] The Philippines is the leader in exporting nurses to meet the demands of the United States and other developed nations.
[13] The first two years of general education is grounded on liberal arts that strengthen the values and character of the person as a caregiver.
The curriculum also strengthens the students' capabilities to participate in research in nursing and other health sciences, provides flexibility in the openness to the use of new teaching approaches, and encourages active involvement in extension work that reaches out to the other sectors.
[15] The first pursuit to constitute the nursing practice was made by the Director of Health in 1913, but was not officially enacted upon by the Filipino legislature.
Each candidate, however, needed to be at least 20 years of age at the time of sign up, and be of adequate health and upstanding character.
The Philippine curriculum has several advantages compared with those of other Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) institutions.
