Leyva Erwin William A, Soberano Julienne Ivan D, Paguio Jenniffer T, Siongco Kathryn Lizbeth L, Sumile Earl Francis R, Bonito And Sheila R
College of Nursing, University of the Philippines Manila, Manila, Philippines.
WHO Collaborating Center for Leadership in Nursing Development.
Acta Med Philipp. 2024 Jul 15;58(12):8-20. doi: 10.47895/amp.v58i12.9346. eCollection 2024.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought additional strain to health workers in the Philippines, leading to a significant proportion of them leaving the workforce. The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of the pandemic on health workers, the support that they received and associated challenges; and identify relevant policies for better workplace conditions.
An environmental scanning method was utilized. Particularly, a literature review and policy scan that were validated through key informant interviews with administrators and frontline health workers from selected urban and rural sites in the three main islands in the Philippines. These were framed into a background note to springboard the discussions during a national policy dialogue participated by representatives from key government organizations, professional organizations of physicians, nurses, and midwives, professional regulatory bodies, hospital administrators, frontline health workers, and donor agencies in the Philippines.
Deaths, burn-out, mental health problems, lack of personal protective equipment and poor allocation of vaccines were reported in the early phases of the pandemic. Support varied across settings but included additional allowance, free meals, accomodation, transportation, training and psychosocial services. Furthermore, pre-pandemic issues such as as low salaries and heavy workload continue to be the main reasons for leaving the workforce or the country. The proposed solutions are as follows: (1) creating policies and strategies for appropriate production, recruitment, and retention of human resources for health; (2) allocating regular permanent positions for both the education and health sector; (3) augmenting and continuation of deployment programs; (3) expanding roles of nurses to push for advanced practice nursing; (4) providing fair compensation along with risk allowances, non-financial incentives, and expanded benefits; (5) supporting mental health wellness by providing an appropriate work-rest balance and safe work environment; (6) providing opportunities for professional development and scholarships with accompanying return-service agreement; and (7) strengthening the reintegration programs for returning overseas health workers.
The pandemic has affected the well-being of health workers and disparities in support were reported due to longstanding workplace issues and policy implementation gaps. Stakeholder commitments require sustained monitoring while policies that are in place and yet to be developed demand stronger support from the government, members of Congress, the private sector, and other key decision-makers.
新冠疫情给菲律宾的医护人员带来了额外压力，导致很大一部分医护人员离职。本研究的目的是探讨疫情对医护人员的影响、他们获得的支持及相关挑战；并确定改善工作场所条件的相关政策。
采用环境扫描法。具体而言，进行了文献综述和政策扫描，并通过与菲律宾三大主要岛屿部分城乡地区的管理人员和一线医护人员进行关键信息访谈进行验证。这些内容被整理成一份背景说明，以便在由菲律宾主要政府组织、医师、护士和助产士专业组织、专业监管机构、医院管理人员、一线医护人员和捐助机构的代表参与的全国政策对话中推动讨论。
疫情初期报告了死亡、倦怠、心理健康问题、个人防护装备短缺和疫苗分配不当等情况。不同环境下的支持有所不同，但包括额外津贴、免费餐食、住宿、交通、培训和心理社会服务。此外，疫情前就存在的低薪和工作量大等问题仍是医护人员离职或离开该国的主要原因。提出的解决方案如下：（1）制定有关卫生人力资源适当生产、招聘和留用的政策和战略；（2）为教育和卫生部门分配定期常设职位；（3）扩大和延续部署计划；（3）扩大护士角色以推动高级实践护理；（4）提供公平薪酬以及风险津贴、非财务激励措施和扩大福利；（5）通过提供适当的工作与休息平衡和安全的工作环境来支持心理健康；（6）提供专业发展和奖学金机会，并附带回任服务协议；（7）加强海外回国医护人员的重新融入计划。
疫情影响了医护人员的福祉，由于长期存在的工作场所问题和政策实施差距，报告了支持方面的差异。利益相关者的承诺需要持续监测，而现有和待制定的政策需要政府、国会议员、私营部门和其他关键决策者提供更强有力的支持。
