3rd batch of NARS to be dispatched soon
By Sarwell Q. Meniano (leytesamardaily.net)

TACLOBAN CITY — The government will deploy next month the third batch of nurses to render six months service in 15 nutritionally-depressed municipalities of Northern Samar and Samar .
Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) regional Forter G. Puguon said that the implementation of Nurses Assigned in Rural Service (NARS) in selected areas will be extended considering the lack of nurses serving in depressed towns and high demand for health services.
Municipalities that are covered by Project NARS batch 3 are Lope De Vega, Mapanas, Las Navas, Mondragon, Pambujan, Palapag, Gamay Laoang, and Lavezares in Northern Samar; San Jose de Buan, Motiong, Tarangnan, Gandara, Sto. Niño, Sta. Margarita, Tagapul-an and San Jorge in Samar.

Puguon said that with five nurses assigned in every town, the total number of trainees will be 75 for the third batch. Priorities are those who were not hired during the first two batches.

“We have noticed during the deployment of the first two batches of nurses that there’s lack of health service providers in these municipalities. The number is now limited considering funding constraints,” the official said.
Hired nurses are tasked to initiate primary health, school nutrition, maternal health programs, first line diagnosis; inform about community water sanitation practices and also do health surveillance; and immunize children and mothers.

The NARS program was launched last year as the country felt the impact of global financial crisis, which reduces the demand labor force.
The training program will cover both the clinical and public health functions. Nurse trainees will rotate in their assigned hospital or rural unit for a period of three 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.

“The project aims to address the glut in inexperienced nurses, promote health of the people and bring the government closer to them. The idea is to mobilize nurses in their hometowns due to low local and overseas demand for the services of inexperienced nurses. They are also helping their own people,” Puguon explained.

While on training, nurses will be given an allowance of P8,000 per month. This translates to about P366,00 per day for a 40 hours training every week.
“The regional office shall select qualified trainees based on criteria we used during the first two batches,” Puguon added.

A Certificate of Completion/Competency shall be issued jointly by the DOLE, Department of Health and Professional Regulation Commission after an assessment of the gained competencies of nurse trainees.

Article source: leytesamardaily.net

The Nurse Assigned in Rural Service (NARS) Project is now accepting online registration for various municipalities in Metro Manila and Rizal Province.

The requirements are still the same as when the NARS Project was launched. They are:

* With valid nurse license issued by the PRC
* Not over 35 years old
* Resident of the identified municipalities
* No nursing-related practice for the past 3 years

The identified Metro Manila and Rizal Province municipalities are:
2nd District – Metro Manila
Marikina City
San Juan

3rd District – Metro Manila
Kalookan City
Malabon
Navotas

4th District – Metro Manila
Pasay City
Pateros
Taguig

Visit the official NARS Project website to APPLY ONLINE, check the status of your application and view the list of shortlisted applicants for the second batch.

A list of Local Government Units (LGUs) and the assistance that they provided for the NARS Project.

Source: http://www.nars.dole.gov.ph/

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) NARS Project website released a list of additional participating municipalities for the training cum deployment program. The initial identified municipalities can be found here.

You can view the list below or download it here.

Source: http://www.nars.dole.gov.ph/

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has announced that GlaxoSmithKline Foundation (Phils.,) Inc., a non-stock, non-profit organization, will provide sponsorship to 100 unemployed registered nurses under Project NARS.

The training for the second batch of Project NARS will start on October 2009.

Read more about this story on the DOLE official website.

Also read PHAP supports greater access to healthcare through Project NARS

The Nurse Assigned in Rural Service (NARS) Project is now accepting online registration for its second batch of applicants. Those who are already registered but not yet shortlisted in the first batch will be automatically considered in the selection process for the second batch.

For the list of the Shortlisted Applicants, click here.

You can Apply Online here: http://www.nars.dole.gov.ph/apply.aspx

These are the requirements to qualify for the NARS Project training:

• With valid nurse license issued by the PRC
• Not over 35 years old
• Resident of the identified municipalities
• No nursing-related practice for the past 3 years

Note: Nurse applicants who are dependents of workers affected by the Global Crisis based on the list provided by the DOLE Regional office shall be given priority in the selection.

Some quick links:

Application Form for Walk-In Applicants

The NARS Project Brochure

The NARS Project Official Website

As part of their advocacy to promote greater access to healthcare, the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP) through its PHAPCares Foundation, will sponsor an additional 100 nurses for deployment to 20 poorest municipalities in the country of the Project Nurse Assigned in Rural Service (NARS).

NARS is a joint project of the DOH, DOLE, PRC and the Board of Nursing.

Under the NARS project, the first batch of 5,000 nurse-trainees were deployed last month on a six-month tour of duty to the 1,000 poorest municipalities.
Another batch of 5,000 nurses will be deployed to poor municipalities during the second half of this year.

PHAP agreed to shoulder the Php 8,000 monthly allowance of the 100 nurse-trainees and will also donate medicines, first aid kits and other items to DOH hospitals covered under the NARS project.