NARS is a Training cum Deployment Project, jointly implemented by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the Department of Health (DOH) and the Professional Regulation Commission, Board of Nursing(PRC-BON), designed to mobilize unemployed registered nurses to the 1,000 poorest municipalities of the country to improve the delivery of health care services.
Project NARS is built within the frameworks of the Economic Resiliency Plan of the Arroyo Administration and the Department of Health’s “Fourmula One for Health”. The Project aims to mitigate the impact of the global financial crisis, to save and create as many jobs as possible and expand social protection and help achieve better health service and care for the people, especially those in the poorest municipalities of the country.
Project NARS was launched by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on 9 February 2009 during the Multi-Sectoral Summit on “Joining Hands Against the Global Crisis” in Malacañan, Palace, Manila. Nurses will be mobilized in their hometowns as warriors for wellness to do the three I’s:
1. Initiate primary health, school nutrition, maternal health programs, first line diagnosis;
2. Inform about community water sanitation, practices and also do health surveillance;
3. Immunize children and mothers. They shall likewise serve as roving nurses for rural schools.
General Objectives
- Project NARS aims to improve delivery of health care services to our population and create a pool of registered nurses with enhanced clinical and preventive health management competencies for national public and private sector employment.
Specific Objectives
1. Provide registered nurses with necessary competencies that encompass both community health practice as well as clinical skills;
2. Address the shortage of skilled and experienced nurses, both domestic and overseas, through structured competency development program;
3. Provide deployment opportunities for nurses in rural areas and underserved communities;
4. Augment the nursing workforce of hospitals and rural health units in identified poor municipalities of needed clinical and public health nurses.
Delivery Mechanism
Nurses will be deployed at an average of 5 per town in the 1,000 poorest municipalities, for a six-months tour of duty. Another batch will be deployed for the second half of the year. These nurses will undergo training and development for competency enhancement in accordance with the training program designed by the PRC-BON in collaboration with DOH.
The training program will cover both the clinical and public health functions. Nurses trainees will rotate in their assigned hospital or rural unit for a period of three (3) months. At the end of the third month, nurses who have completed their rotation in the hospital will be re-assigned to a rural unit and vice-versa.
A Certificate of Completion/Competency shall be issued jointly by the DOLE, DOH and PRC after an assessment of the gained competencies of nurse trainees.
While on training, nurses will be given a stipend/allowance of P8,000.00 per month. This translates to about P366.00 per day for forty (40) hours training/workweek. As these nurses are already in their hometowns, transportation expenses will no longer be a problem.
The stipend of P8,000 may be increased if the host LGUs will offer a counterpart of say P2,000. LGUs may provide Philhealth coverage to nurse-trainees. Corporations may chip in by providing shirts, insurance, vitamins, etc., making the project a national enterprise with private equity.
Expected Outcomes
The NARS Project will:
1. Create a pool of 10,000 nurses who are adequately trained with enhanced clinical and public health competencies and readily available for local and overseas employment
2. Provide income of P8,000 per month to 5,000 unemployed nurses for the first six months and to another 5,000 for the second half of the year, to help pump prime the economy;
3. Promote the health of the people through the improvement of the delivery of nursing and health care services, particularly in the 1,000 poorest municipalities;
4. Bring the government closer to the people.
Recruitment and Selection
Recruitment and selection shall be the responsibility of DOLE, through its Regional Offices.
Registered nurses who are physically and mentally fit and willing to serve in their hometowns and with the following qualifications may apply online at www.nars.dole.gov.ph from February 20 to March 22, 2009:
a. With valid nurse license issued by the PRC;
b. Not over 35 years old;
c. Resident of the identified municipalities / nearby municipalities;
d. No nursing-related practice for the past 3 years.
Nurse applicants who are dependents of workers affected by the Global Crisis (e.g. laid off/rotated, etc.,) shall be given priority in the selection.
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