Intern nurses should boycott “abusive” hospitals, says Kiko

NAGA CITY—Sen. Francisco “Kiko” Pangilinan said he would strongly support the house bill filed by Laguna Rep. Edgar San Luis seeking to penalize public and private hospitals that ask payments from intern nurses.

“It’s exploitation,” said Sen. Pangilinan who was in Naga City on Wednesday. “I am willing to look carefully at this [house]bill.”

The senator said hospitals who give below-minimum-wage compensations to intern nurses should also be penalized.
He said intern nurses make up the bulk of medical practitioners in hospitals in the country that they should be “treated fairly.”

“I call on intern nurses who are victims of these unfair labor practices to organize themselves and boycott hospitals that either ask payment or give below-minimum-wage compensation for their hospital residency.”

He said if intern nurses who were “exploited” would stop coming to duty, operations of “abusive” hospitals would be paralyzed.

“Instead of enriching skills, exploitative hospital is earning by giving very low compensation to intern nurses.”
He said intern nurses who had been experiencing the situation should either negotiate with the management of the hospitals they had been working for to raise their compensation, or stage a “walkout.”

Earlier, Naga City Vice-Mayor Gabriel Bordado expressed similar statements.

He said some hospitals had been taking advantage of the intern nurses by giving them below-minimum-wage compensations.

He also said that nursing schools should put up offices that would see to it that the nurses they had been producing would have jobs after graduation.

“They should have placements schemes,” he said. “Otherwise the nurses would fall victims to hospitals who exploit by giving below-minimum-wage compensations to interns.”

He further said that some practices including asking payment from nursing interns were very demeaning.
He added that schools should also have a “no-nonsense” aptitude exam for those who would want to take the nursing course. “So schools would not be producing so many nurses which could be jobless soon after graduation.”
Hospital residency experience is needed for overseas employment.

Under the bill authored by Laguna Rep. San Luis, hospitals that charge nurses would face a maximum fine of P100, 000. Hospital administrators who would be found guilty would face a maximum one-year jail term.