In the 1990s, as a result of a shrinking market in the US, Filipino nurses, including doctors who re-trained as nurses, began to migrate to Canada, the United Kingdom, Libya, United Arab Emirates, Ireland, Singapore, Kuwait, Qatar, Japan, and Brunei. From 1992 to 2009, the number of Filipino nurses who made an exodus to these countries reached 160,000, according to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration. From 2000 to 2008, the US had been replaced by Saudi Arabia as the leading destination of Filipino nurses – with an aggregate total of 53,771; and UK with 14,722; followed by the UAE, Ireland, Singapore, Kuwait, US (with only 2,104), Qatar, Taiwan, and Canada . Today the Philippines is the largest exporter of nurses globally – roughly 25 percent of all overseas nurses worldwide. About 85 percent of employed Filipino nurses work in more than 50 countries.
Many Saudis and foreigners praise Filipino nurses working in various hospitals, polyclinics and health centers all over the Kingdom.
Jannette Arenque-Asi, a teacher at Saudi Arabian International School, said that she had witnessed how good Filipino nurses are.
“During the two times that I gave birth, the Filipino nurses who attended me made me feel that giving birth was easy, although I knew it was not,” she said.
But they are not only good at work. They are also very much involved in the Filipino community. They serve as volunteers during medical missions conducted by Filipino groups all over Saudi Arabia.
The exodus of nurses from the Philippines to the Kingdom is foreseen to continuously rise for the next 10 years, and most definitely it is still the Filipino nurses who are primarily seen to occupy various hospital and clinic positions.
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