St. Paul University Philippines was among the sixteen (16) institutions to co-host the International Scientific Conference in Nursing on April 12, 2023, held in Rizal Park Hotel Manila. The conference was spearheaded by the University of the Philippines College of Nursing, the Philippine General Hospital Department of Nursing, the UP Nursing Alumni Association International Inc, and the UP International Healthcare Forum in collaboration with 12 universities offering excellent nursing programs in the Philippines.
With the theme “The Future of Nursing,” the conference engaged the participants in meaningful discussions and collaborations that advance the nursing profession and improve the health care outcomes. The conference looked into the future of nursing especially the current multiple challenges facing the profession and the country such as quality assurance in nursing education, nursing shortage in the hospitals and communities, ethical recruitment, workplace safety and security, and leadership of public health nurses.
As co-host institution, the university commissioned five (5) faculty members from the SNAHS – College of Nursing who actively facilitated the activities in the conference. The 5 faculty members were Ms. Vanessa L. Langcay who served as one of the judges in selecting the best poster presentation, Ms. Christine Sibal as a Moderator of oral presentations, Ms. Winnie Valerie D. Salmero and Ms. Rose Ann B. Umoso as facilitators, and Ms. Ruby Jane D. Puntil as a Social Media Ambassador.
The conference brought together distinguished nursing professionals, scholars, researchers, educators, and graduate students from the country and around the world to impart their knowledge, insights and expertise on the latest trends and developments in nursing science and practice. In his keynote speech, Mr. Lluis Vinyals Torres, (World Health Organization WPRO Coordinator for Health Policy and Services Design), tackled strategies on how to support nurses in their roles towards Universal Health Care (UHC).
In the panel discussion on Nursing Education, Research & Practice in the era of Universal Health Care: Professor Rita Villanueva-Tamse highlighted two important aspects of care that our local nurses need: the availability of succession planning and the assurance of psychological safety when concerns are being raised. Encouraging nurses’ involvement in healthy policy and health policy research, Dr. Fely Marilyn Lorenzo said that the “future of nursing” in the country will largely depend on three factors: (1) the value that the health sector put in community service, (2) uniform professional capabilities among nurses, and (3) the scope of influence the nurses’ health outcomes reach within the society. In light of the rapid evolution of nursing education, Dr. Carmelita Divinagracia encouraged the health sector to maximize the use of health information technology in health promotion activities.
In the session on Responding to the issues affecting the future of nursing. Professor Rosemarie Gadioma highlighted the importance of streamlining the nursing education in the country since in the primary care area, nurses “are the first contact of patients,” therefore, quality patient care will spring from how nurses will deal with the patients based on their level of knowledge and experience. Professor Minerva Salinas Guttman, while tackling the immense need for educators to adapt to modern learning tools that will help students said: “some very passive teaching strategies today are still being used by some programs; however, activities need to be active, internet-driven, and digital.” On the other hand, Mr. Melvin Miranda, stressed the need for stronger and actionable solutions from the nursing community in response to the heightening migration of Filipino nurses from the Philippines.
In the closing program, Undersecretary Maria Rosario S. Vergeire (Officer-In-Charge, Department of Health) in her speech itemized the plans of the government for the next decade which are envisioned to raise the nursing situation in the country. These plans are patterned on the National Human Resources for Health Master Plan 2020-2040.
