Nurses from all over the country will converge next week at the Fiesta Pavilion of the Manila Hotel for the 88th Anniversary of the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA), 53rd Nurses Week Celebration, and National Annual Convention.
As nursing stakeholders and policy-makers convene, Filipino nurses are hopeful that issues and concerns affecting the nursing profession will be tackled specifically the unabated exploitation of volunteer nurses, the urgent need in improving the quality of the nursing education and practice, and the chronic shortage of local nursing jobs.
The PNA is the professional organization of nurses in the Philippines.
Founded on September 2, 1922 as the Filipino Nurses Association (FNA), it was conceived by Anastacia Giron-Tupas with the aim of unifying all Filipino nurses and promote and professionalize the nursing profession in the country.
The FNA became a member of the International Council of Nurses (ICN) during the council’s congress in Montreal, Canada on July 1929. In 1966, the organization was renamed Philippine Nurses Association (PNA).
Since then, several milestones have marked the history of nursing in the Philippines which include:
Since then, several milestones have marked the history of nursing in the Philippines which include:
- President Carlos P. Garcia, through Presidential Proclamation No. 539, declared the last week of October as "Nurses Week.’’
- In 1997, President Fidel V. Ramos issued Presidential Proclamation No. 1060 declaring the year as "Nurses Diamond Jubilee Year.’’
- Congress passed Republic Act 7164, the Philippine Nursing Act of 1991 mandating the government to protect and improve the nursing profession in the country to promote a dignified existence for nurses as a guarantee for the delivery of quality health services throughout the nation.
This year's convention, scheduled on October 26-28, focuses on the nurses' role in serving the community with the theme, “Delivering Quality, Serving Communities: The Challenge for Filipino Nurses Leading Chronic Care.”
