The Department of Health will deploy 12,618 registered nurses next year to provide health care services in various medical centers nationwide, a government press release said.

Ruth Padilla, DOH consultant on Registered Nurses for Health Enhancement and Local Service project, said this will enable the nurses acquire a one-year training certificate for possible employment here and abroad.

Padilla said the registered nurses will be mobilized to serve in 1,634 cities and municipalities and 39,498 barangays covering a population of 89,009,307.

“We are now accepting and processing applications for the project. We are encouraging our nurses to avail of this in their respective communities and barangays,” Padilla said.

RN Heals was conceptualized in response to the country’s constitutional mandate to make essential health goods and services available to all Filipinos especially the poor.

It was launched February 14, 2011 in collaboration with the DOH, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Professional Regulatory Commission-Board of Nursing and the Philippine Nurses Association.

The project is a learning and deployment project designed to mobilize registered nurses in identified priority areas to improve delivery of quality health care services.

RN Heals trainees will also be given stipends or allowances while they are being deployed in their respective assignments.

Padilla said the program is a collaborative effort between the national and local governments, private organizations, professional organizations and other stakeholders.

While the project is envisioned to improve access of poor municipalities to quality healthcare with social services, she said it specifically aims to increase employment by creating a pool of registered nurses with enhanced clinical and public health management competencies.*PNA

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