170 slots for rural nurses up for grabs

By ALICE NICART, PIA Eastern Samar
December 29, 2011

BORONGAN CITY, Eastern Samar  –  Some 170 slots for registered nurses had been opened to new applicants for the “RN-Heals Program” of the Aquino Administration which is being implemented by the Department of Health (DOH).

This was reported by Dr. Jean Egargo, representative of the Department of Health (DOH) for Eastern Samar province.

The lady Doctor added that as a continuing program of DOH, these nurses, once they pass the screening, would be deployed to far-flung barangays of the province so they could help the local government unit (LGU) identify the health needs and problems of the people in a particular barangay.

Indeed, these nurses do not only deliver health services by administering medicines to patients nor monitor the progress of the patient’s health status, they also conduct a study to find out the root causes of diseases that plague in a community, so said Liezel Pumar, of the Eastern Samar Provincial Hospital (ESPH).

“Through a survey which the community nurses would hold, problems like inadequate or poor sanitation, potable water even livelihood would be revealed,” nurse Pumar said in an interview.

Economic experts say that among other poverty indicators, health issues should likewise be identified so that local officials would know and make use of the survey results in their decision- making, program-planning and fund allocation agenda.

“It is also important that family income is known, because insufficiency of it would be the usual cause of health problems in the family," Pumar added.

“When results are ready these are submitted to the local officials for their study,” the health worker concluded.