The Aging Mentors of Philippine Nurses: A Phenomenological Critic on the Experiences of Aging Nurses in the Academe and the Philippine Healthcare Industry

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Nora Velma M. Gayod, Erwin L. Purcia

Abstract

This study looked into the experiences of retirement of our aging nurses both in the academe and the Philippine healthcare industries. It also underscored the support received by Filipino nurses in terms of training, employment, compensation and benefits. Phenomenologically probed, the researcher drew upon the primary sources of information from the Key Research Informants (KRI’s)—19 soon-to retire and retired nurses in both the medical and academic industries. Further, this uncovered the working conditions that our aging nurses are experiencing upon retirement specifically on physical, mental, psychological, social, financial facets and how they perceived their retirement vis-à-vis academic and healthcare landscapes. Results revealed both positive and negative experiences of retiring specifically on reduced work stress, received retirement packages, freed time for personal activities with family and enjoyed travelling places. The negative experiences however are mirrored from the positive ones. Retiring means losing their loved jobs, the things to do, and the chance to get by the trends of the dynamic society. Volunteering at the hospitals and colleges where they retired from takes care of keeping them involved in the nursing industry. And that, many of the retired government hospital nurses are left to depend on measly pension to survive.  It is recommended therefore that examining and updating existing government policies to determine how best to serve the interests of our nurses and nursing teachers must be considered an urgent concern of the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA), the Association of Deans of Philippine Colleges of Nursing, Inc. (ADPCN, Inc.) and the government at large.

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