I am a Filipina nurse working in Hamilton (a city in the north island
not hit by the earthquake- thank God)
Myself and the rest of the Filipino community feel upset about the
tragedy in Christchurch, and it hits close to home as some of us know
the people involved and are also Filipino nurses who came here with
hopes of a better life.
I don't know exactly how to impart my thoughts, but I feel that the
media should be involved in exposing the english for nursing
registration scams that a lot of our nurses are falling prey on.
Yes, it is sickening to know that these scams are around, and that it
may well be fellow Filipinos looking for a quick buck who are behind
them... and yes, they have to be exposed.
Those Filipino nurses studying english in the fallen CTV bldg would
have not been there in the first place have these scams not been
around.
I have heard personal stories from nurses who have failed to pass
their IELTS who come here to study english to take IELTS in hopes of
getting a registration, a job offer, and an approval from immigration
to stay.
They have been promised that as they have contacts with a local NZ
recruitment agency and "by operating as a temporary employment agency,
is able to employ you in part time work while you are studying, as
well as in full time work as a registered nurse once you have met the
Nursing Council of New Zealand requirements. Employment is usually in
aged care facilities."
The statement gives the nurses in the Philippines who only want to
give their family a better future despite having to leave their love
ones behind (and probably having to loan a huge amount of money) that
meeting the Nursing Council requirements is a fast-track.
I have to say this is not so...
I believe that some agencies also try to attract their preys by saying
that they can work part-time. part-time means 20hrs a week if you can
find it (mahirap maghanap ng jobs here now-even locals are having
problems)... and 20hrs a week of minimum wage. 12nzd/hr equates to
about 240nzd/week before taxes. Yes, that may be about what a nurse
would earn in Philippines a month for 20hrs worth of work. But they
never really show the real numbers. 5000-9000nzd for the tuition, an
unfurnished room to rent in NZ on a average is 150nzd/week, lunch at
the cafeteria is 6-15nzd/meal, what about other expenses? plus most of
the jobs they offer are back breaking care-giver work in a resthome.
And then at the end, they fail the IELTS anyway, and have to go back
home. or pass the IELTS and have no funds to process their papers,
much more to take the nursing bridging course program (another 5000nzd
for the course).
I still don't get my head around how the scammers talked these
knowledgeable professionals into spending over half a million pesos to
go overseas to prepare for an exam that will cost 5,000-10,000pesos in
the Philippines
I have met Filipinas who are doing the course now, and even with the
20hrs/week, they have to depend on charity from fellow Filipinos for
shelter (as noted rent is 150nzd/wk on average) so they can save even
a little bit to pay back the loans they have taken in Philippines so
they can come over. They by the way, are on their way back to
Philippines soon as they know the real deal now.
I have asked them if they have complained in the agencies website to
warn the others, and they said that the websites of the agencies they
have been through are usually unavailable by the time they realize
that they have been fooled, so they don't really know who to complain
to.
In the few years that I have worked here, I have met so many nurses
who are here as care-givers even... these are nurses who have far
more experience and knowledge than myself multiplied by 3. They came
to study to become care-givers and then work as one only because they
did not meet the IELTS criteria... they came hoping to earn enough to
pay the loan they took in PH and take the IELTS so they can process be
nurses too. Most of them have been here working for years now, and
still have not managed to make it as registered nurses. Worse, I have
known of Filipino care-givers whose work visa and permit were refused
to be renewed by the immigration because of the shortage of jobs in NZ
and they are prioritizing the locals vacancy-wise and they had no
choice but to go back home.
My point is, it is not as easy as what the scammers make it. Besides,
for an NZ local, they don't even need to finish any schooling or even
formal training to become care-givers here (which is a pain really,
not to mention unsafe).
The next paragraph may be boring to you, but i'll let you in on the
process we took to get a job as nurses.
I, and my fellow Filipino nurses at work, had taken our IELTS in the
Philippines.
And even having done so there, had taken us a good few months to get
things sorted with the Nursing Council of NZ to take the nurse
bridging program (also known as Competency Assessment Program for
Foreign Nurses or CAP).
To take the CAP you have to be able to enroll in a NZ nursing school
that offers the 6-8week course, and that spells more money. After the
CAP, and you get your registration (and contrary to what some people
in Philippines think, if you are a graduate of CAP - no, you don't
need to take the NZ nurses exam).
The registration will take approximately 4 weeks. If you don't meet
their criteria, i.e. number of nursing hours worked, you may not even
be given registration after all you troubles.
Post-registration, you still need to find a job offer to have the NZ
immigration give u a work visa and permit to stay and work legally
(and honestly, even NZ local graduates are hard pressed to find jobs
in NZ now). and processing the work permit will take time too.
Our batch came over to study CAP on September 2007, and most of us
only got to start work on January of 2008. That's months of spending
pesos in NZ, most of us had to take a loan from families who are also
overseas.
between IELTS
-NZQA (these are the people who assess your academic qualifications in NZ)
-Nursing Council approval to take CAP
-CAP
-registration with Nursing Council
-job hunting to get a job offer so you can apply to work visa/permit
-processing paperwork with NZ immigration
and actually working as a nurse and getting the nurse rate (which is
twice that of a caregiver)... it's a long process.
It is not as quick and easy as some of the agency scammers make it.
there will be a lot of forums online where u can find conversations
about the scams.
some are:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/immigration/news/article.cfm?c_id=231&objectid=10496907&ref=rss
http://www.backpack-newzealand.com/nz/article3065-15.php
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.backpack-newzealand.com%2Fnz%2Farticle2837-45.php&h=bbdc7gnWBnYnrSf3X4EFirUNtlg
Myself and my Filipino nurse friends here hope that you will EXPOSE
this so we can prevent more Filipino nurses victimized into taking
what I now call "a very long and hope-depreciating vacation that most
of them can't afford".
Personally, I am infuriated because our fellow countrymen who perished
in Christchurch who are in that language school would NOT have been
there in the first place have they not been scammed. They are Filipino
nurses who, if given the right information and pointed to the right
avenues, would have been working in the hospitals right now helping
out those that are injured by the quake...instead of being part of the
rubble being unearthed.
I believe that I speak for most of Filipinos in NZ when I write that,
we feel for the loved ones of those who were directly affected by the
earthquake, especially those who are in the Philippines. If you have
contacts to their families, please let them know that the Filipinos
here are organizing what resources they have spare to help in
whichever way we all could, and that we are praying for them too.
by:VDGP.