PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered the Commission on Higher Education to help address the shortage of nurses in the country.

He specifically asked CHED to adopt concrete steps to keep Filipino nurses working in the country.

“We have to be clever about the healthcare manpower. Our nurses are the best, buong mundo na ang kalaban natin dito,” Marcos said during a meeting with the Private Sector Advisory Council Healthcare Sector.

“Lahat ng nakakausap kong President, Prime Minister, ang hinihingi is more nurses from the Philippines,” the President added.

CHED Chairperson Prospero de Vera III responded that the agency has implemented interventions to address the nursing shortage, such as retraining board non-passers, adopting nursing curricula with exit credentials, rerouting non-practicing nurses, and running exchange programs with other nations.

“Under the nursing curriculum with exit credentials, students could have several options: exit at the end of Level I or II, obtain the certificate or diploma in Nursing, or choose to continue and finish the four-year nursing program to become a registered nurse,” he said.

De Vera added that CHED is also working on a flexible short-term masteral program to address the lack of instructors in nursing and medical schools.