Metro Pacific Health Corp. (MPH) on Wednesday launched a program aiming to augment the shortage of nurses in the Philippines.
The company said it called the program as “Project Nightingale,” a first-of-its-kind initiative that aims to empower both Filipino nursing students and current nurses in the country.
“As the Heart of Filipino Healthcare, Metro Pacific Health shoulders the vital responsibility of addressing the health-care needs of our people, ensuring services that are sustainable, accessible, and affordable,” Annabelle R. Borromeo, group chief nursing officer, said.
“Project Nightingale is our response to a pressing challenge in the healthcare landscape—the nursing shortage. This is not only a Filipino issue but also a global one, impacting countries worldwide. This year, we are introducing an initiative that not only aims to address this challenge but more importantly, celebrates nursing excellence,” she said.
This month, Metro Pacific Health brought to the national stage its first-ever inter-nursing school, quiz-based competition,
It started with a series of hospital-level events that have been running since May 2023, the last of which happened on September 27. Over 500 students spread across 200 schools throughout the country participated in the hospital level rounds, competing to be their hospital’s representative in the national championship.
Apart from cash prizes, each student in the hospital-level round received a P100,000 scholarship to fund their nursing studies.
The company is also giving a nursing excellence award to recognize outstanding nurses in three categories: clinical nursing, nursing leadership and nurse education.
From 47 nominees across 18 Metro Pacific hospitals, 15 finalists have been identified, and a distinguished jury of nursing and health leaders will determine the winners in each category.
The company is also holding an expo that will serve as a platform to showcase the group hospitals as institutions of healthcare and as great places to grow and nurture their nursing careers.
“It is also MPH’s way of showing its support to all future nurses about to embark on the challenge of the Nursing Licensure Exam in November,” Borromeo said.