More Than the Character, the Issue

Roughly a week after digital uprising catalyzed by Cynthia Villar’s controversial TV interview where she inadvertently made use of the term “Room Nurses”, the senatoriable sat down with the officers and members of the Philippine Health Bloggers Society.

This is her side of the story, albeit not verbatim.:

The question Winnie Monsod gave was regarding the closing down of nursing schools roughly 5 years ago. Mrs. Villar stated that she acted to intercede between CHED and the Nursing schools that are foreclosure out of concern for the students who would be displace should these learning facilities be really closed. Her answer was rooted on her business sense – that what you invest on should have some form of profit. In this case, the senatoriable believes that those who may not be able to continue their education because their schools will be closed down should still have opportunities for employment. She believed that those who may be displaced should these schools be closed may still be “room nurses”. In this context, she was not talking about BSN graduates or Registered Nurses, but undergrads. Thus, her use of the words, “hindi naman gaanong kagalingan”. She said that a person who has received a BSN has better competencies than undergraduates, but that these “room nurses” can still earn a living. The term “room nurse” was not an insult, but a statement of a fact.

From left to right: Yours truly, with PHBS Chairman Nr. Alvin Dakis,
meeting with Mrs. Cynthia Villar

Before you guys run after me with pitchforks and burn me like Inquisition-crazed Catholics of the Dark Ages, I just want to clarify - this is a report of what occurred during the meeting and not in any way a defense for Mrs. Villar. Should you find her explanation acceptable or not is up to you.

Of Questions

These events have led to a massive wave of reaction in social networking sites. Statuses, memes, and tweets showed the fury of hundreds of nurses here and abroad. Many proclaimed that they will not vote for her in the coming elections, and many invoked the power of potassium chloride to permanently shut the senatoriable up.

I have a simple principle: You may call a spade a space, and thus refer to a person as an idiot should said person be a legit idiot. Let us admit it. It was a bad move for the senatoriable. Or bad editing on the part of the TV station. Overall, it leaves a nasty taste in the mouth. 

But what good does it do, really? Sure, the pictures are funny, the name-calling’s hilarious, the Senora Santibanez memes are unforgettable, but do they solve issues?

The question of what Mrs. Villar can do to pacify our collectively (butt)hurt pride as professionals is not THE question, or if it is, it pales in comparison to what is really important. THE question is what WE can do to ensure that our profession will never be at the business end of insults, intended or otherwise, ever again.

I mean, if Mrs. Villar were to go down on her knees, beg for forgiveness (she did already, sans the kneeling), take up BS Nursing like she tweeted, and donate money to nurses, would it solve our problem?

I think we know the answer to that.

Let me just say, “Dude, it’s your Facebook account, and Cybercrime is on TRO. You can do whatever the hell you like.” But if we seriously divert this much energy to trying to solve our real problems, we’d probably be a lot closer to the solution than we are today.

These are the stuff we should really be concerned with:

Question: Why did nurses react so violently to Mrs. Villar’s proclamations? I mean seriously, KCl injections are like the epitome of violence.

Answer: Because we’re tired of our profession being looked down on.

Question: WHY is the nursing profession being looked down on?

Answer: Several reasons: because nurses have been stereotyped as doctor’s assistance since the beginning of time; because in the Philippines, if you’re a hospital nurse and you’re earning PHP8,000 per month, you’d be so thankful you’d kiss any imaginary god’s feet; because we are unemployed, underemployed, employed in jobs that we’re not even supposed to do, and there was a time we needed to pay and kiss arse to even be considered as volunteers; because we have been stereotyped as an unpatriotic selfish bunch that would give an arm and a leg just to get out of this self-proclaimed godforsaken country and go to better places, preferably with white-skinned citizens; because the quality of nurses we are producing is dropping at an alarming rate, as shown by the decline of Nursing Licensure Exam passers; because people don’t seem to see just how important a nurse is in the health care system – that Philippine health care would perish without us. Lots and lots of factors, really.

Question: What do WE do about these reasons then? That’s right, not the government. WE.

FUNNY! And the Hello Kitty Cap is cute.
 How does this solve unemployment again?

Your move, Nurse. 

Janina Santos is the Founding President of the Philippine Health Bloggers Society. She is also Secretary of Publications and Media Relations and Corporate Treasurer of the Alliance of Young Nurse Leaders and Advocates International, Inc. However, this is her personal blog and does not, in any way, reflect the official statement of the organizations regarding this issue.