MANILA – A number Filipino nurses and caregivers who
seized the opportunity to train in Japan to work there have ended up returning
to the Philippines, including some who passed the tough licensing exam.
“The
journey to becoming a nurse in Japan was indeed a mission impossible. . . . We
were very tired physically, mentally and emotionally while studying to pass the
board exam and working at the same time. All of us were pushed to study even on
our rest day,” a Filipino nurse who quit only a year after his deployment in
2011 said recently.
The
33-year-old nurse, who requested anonymity so he could freely express his views,
is among more than 1,200 Filipino nurses and caregivers who were accepted by
Japan starting in 2009 under the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership
Agreement.
Under the
program, nurses and caregivers from the Philippines first learn the Japanese
language and culture, undergo training in Japanese health facilities, and then
take the Japanese licensing exam in their respective profession.
Candidates
who pass are granted a working visa, allowing them to both work and help
graying Japan address its growing shortage of health workers at the same time.
A fresh
batch of 60 nurses and 275 caregivers is about to complete a six-month Japanese
language and culture course in the Philippines before deployment to Japan in
June.
“Learning
the language alone is already difficult, and it’s all the more grueling trying
to pass the exam,” the Filipino nurse, who has already migrated to another
country after returning from Japan, said in an email message.
He
complained also of a change in the payment terms in his contract when he
started working in the Japanese hospital.
To
encourage candidates to complete the program, he said they should be allowed to
shadow their Japanese counterparts as they perform their jobs, instead of
getting assigned tasks usually performed by orderlies or janitors.
“If I
could turn back the clock, I would have not chosen to sacrifice my career as a
public nurse back home and my family life,” the Filipino nurse said.
Filipino
caregivers Aira Ignacio and Bernadette Villanueva, speaking in a separate
interview, also attested to the difficulty of working and studying at the same
time when they entered the program in 2011.
“There
are times when you really wanna give up, because not all things in Japan are
good,” Ignacio, 30, said. “There were times during my first year there that I
asked myself if that is really the job that I wanted, because I’m not really
used to taking care of old people, and doing it alone.”
Ignacio,
who is a licensing d nurse in the Philippines, was assigned to a facility in
Okinawa, while Villanueva, 29, went to a facility in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka
Prefecture.
But
unlike the other nurse, Ignacio and Villanueva endured the challenges of their
three-year training program and passed the licensing exam for caregivers in
2015.
Both said
that while their respective facilities supported them in their studies while
they worked, they also had to study in their free time just to make sure they
passed the exam.
But
passing the exam did not lead to a significant increase in pay, contrary to
their initial expectations.
For this
reason, coupled with personal ones — recurring back pain and wanting to be
reunited with her family (Ignacio), and marriage plans (Villanueva), the two
decided to return to the Philippines last year.
Equipped
with Japanese skills, the two now have relatively high-paying jobs in Manila as
interpreters in hospitals for Japanese patients who cannot speak English.
The two
agree that their present circumstances are much better than if they had
continued working in Japan as licensed caregivers, because aside from the good
pay, they are also living with or close to their respective families. Being
able to continue speaking Japanese and working in the medical field are
additional benefits.
But amid
their difficulties in Japan, Ignacio and Villanueva said there were plenty of
positive things they will never forget, foremost of which is the sense of
achievement of overcoming the physical, mental and emotional challenges as
affirmed by their successful shot at the licensing exam.
“Living
in Japan is not like being in heaven. There’s loneliness, homesickness. But
when I felt the desire to go home before, I just thought right away of the
reason why I went there,” Villanueva said.
“We
advise them to have lots of patience, because you really have to study and work
at the same time,” Ignacio added.
The two
admit to being open to the possibility of returning if the right offer comes,
noting also how they miss the clean environment, the politeness of the
Japanese, and the efficiency of the public transport system, among other
aspects.
According
to official data, just over 160 of the nearly 200 Filipino nurses and
caregivers who passed the Japanese licensing exam from 2010 up to 2015 are
working in Japan.
For this
year, 56 Filipino caregivers and nurses passed, but there are no data
immediately available as to how many of them are employed in Japan.
The Japan
International Corporation for Welfare Services, which directly handles the
program on the part of Japan, said the most common reasons cited by those who
passed the exam but decided not to work in Japan are personal and family
issues, particularly the desire to just be close to and take care of their
parents.
No comments:
Post a Comment