RIYADH, 5 November 2005 — Filipino nurses in the Eastern Region who need help in renewing their licenses with the Philippine Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) are being invited to avail themselves of assistance from Filnasa.
Representatives of Filnasa, which stands for Filipino Nurses’ Association of Saudi Arabia, will be in Alkhobar on Nov. 24-25 as part of the Embassy-on-Wheels program of the Philippine Embassy.
Ferdie Urrutia, Filnasa’s press relations officer, said the group has taken as one of its priorities the renewal of PRC licenses in view of the difficulties faced by many Filipino nurses in Saudi Arabia whose professional licenses are not renewed on time.
“There is a remarkable difficulty in renewing the PRC license,” noted a Filnasa report.
It said nurses in Saudi Arabia are penalized either by non-payment of one month of their salary or suspension if the license is not renewed on time.
Urrutia said Filnasa has helped at least 328 nurses renew their licenses since the project started last year.
Licenses are renewed through the Manila-based Philippine Nurses Association (PNA), he explained.
Filnasa also provides its 620 members free educational symposiums, including leadership seminars, performance improvement and nursing research, and skills development on providing emergency care and physical assessment.
Members of Filnasa come from various hospitals in the Central Region, including theSecurity Forces Hospital, Riyadh Military Hospital, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center, Prince Sultan Cardiac Center, King Khalid University Hospital, King Fahad Medical City, Dallah Hospital, King Abdulaziz Hospital (KFNGH), Maternity Hospital (RCH), and other medical clinics.
For the forthcoming visit of Filnasa in the Eastern Region, the following Filnasa executive officers can be contacted for further information: Alina Articulo, president, mobile number 05022-67207; Nora Escalante, secretary, 05674-81494; Edna Torricampo, treasurer, 05081-58134; Ma. Luisa Madinah, auditor, 05674-61380, and Urrutia, PRO, 05074-10291.
Those who have access to the Internet may get in touch by e-mailing [email protected].
Urrutia said that Filnasa website www.filnasa.org will be accessible very soon, probably before the month ends.
Last month, Filnasa held a symposium titled “Professional Development: Surviving the Challenges of the 21st Century.” It was attended by almost 300 members.
Nurses constitute a big portion of an estimated 100,000 Filipino health care providers in the Kingdom. One of Filnasa’s aims is to put up a database of Filipino nurses in Saudi Arabia.
Articulo, the group’s president, said one of the purposes of having a database and a network with nurses across the Kingdom is to enable easier and faster dissemination of important information, including developments in the profession and job opportunities.
Many nurses who finished their contracts in the Middle East have moved elsewhere, such as in Europe or North America, with the help of their networks.