Virtual seminar preps Filipino nurses for US work setting

Labor Attaché Saul De Vries (middle row, rightmost), with speakers from the National Filipino American Lawyers Association (NFALA) and Philippine Nurses Association of America (PNAA). (Top, from left) Atty. Jeri Gonzales Abrams, past president, NFALA; Atty. Bryan C. Ramos, president-elect, NFALA; Marife Sevilla, PNAA. (middle row, from left) Virginia Alinsao, PNAA; Mary Joy Garcia-Dia, PNAA; (bottom) Melissa Cunanan, PNAA. CONTRIBUTED

WASHINGTON – The Migrant Workers Office of the Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C., has recently conducted its first virtual special pre-departure orientation seminar (SPDOS) for US-bound Filipino nurses.

Fifty-five nurses hired by employers in the United States and currently preparing to migrate to the US participated in the seminar held last week.

Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez, in a recorded video message, greeted the attendees and wished them a successful migration to the United States.

Romualdez assured the nurses that the embassy is ready to assist them should they encounter any challenges or issues with their employment.

Labor Attaché Saul De Vries said the orientation, a pioneering initiative of the Migrant Workers Office, was the first in a series of orientations lined up for US-bound Filipino nurses this year.

“We started doing the SPDOS last year as our way of making the nurses more prepared in taking up employment and integrating into the US,” said De Vries. “We have received positive and encouraging comments about this initiative and that is why we will continue conducting the orientation throughout the year.”

The Philippine Nurses Association of America, Inc. (PNAA) and the National Filipino American Lawyers Association (NFALA) have teamed up with the MWO to educate the nurses on labor rights and contractual obligations, immigration laws, work setting in the US healthcare system and effective ways for successful integration into American society.

Lawyers Bryan Ramos and Jeri Gonzales of NFALA and healthcare practitioners Virginia Alinsao, Melissa Cunanan, Marife Sevilla and Mary Joy Garcia-Dia of PNAA served as SPDOS resource speakers.

US staffing agencies and their partner recruitment agencies in the Philippines have helped in organizing the orientation by enlisting their candidate nurses in the program.