Margaret H.

Arellano
BSN I-4

Demographic Profile of the Interviewee:

Name: Raymund Jose H. De Guzman, RN, MSN
Position: Nurse Supervisor
Company Name: Lucena United Doctors Hospital and Medical Center
Company Address: Brgy. Isabang, Lucena City, Quezon Province

Current Issues About the Health Care Delivery System

1. What are the factors that could affect the health care delivery sytems today?
A. The root cause is low salary here in the Philippines compared to the salary
offered for nurses abroad, therefore the local nurses from our country tend to
migrate internationally leading to the loss of nurse supply in our locality. A loss of
nurse supply triggers the quality of the health care delivery system to fall. The
remaining medical health providers, appeared to be insufficient enough to provide
the essential health care needed by the nation.

B. The prominent factor is the applicant's connection from big people inside the
company. Wherein due to his connection, even if he is less competent and
qualifiable for the position and employment, he has a bigger possibility to be hired
in the company compared from the other applicants who are more qualified from
the him but lose connection and referral from the company. Therefore if this
connection is being ruled in the company, all the applicants needs support and back
up from other people in order to be employed as nurse in their chosen workplace.
If this continuously happen, the quality of service given by the nurses to the
patients will be compromised unmeeting the significant health assistance deserved
by the people.
 C. The Philippine Health Care System is also affected by the low percentage
allocated by the government for the national funding on its proposed programs.
When their financial support is insufficient and low enough to implement its
planned actions, their united missions towards people's health wellness won't be
reached and attained. He added that there are some cases that the funds
specialized and designated for the establishment of many health stations have
been cut and lessened by the different agencies and companies that managed its
construction. Thus, the quality of its final product have been deteriorated and
worsen than what they actually expected for, as proven by the audit made for these
projects.

2. What are the current trends or issues about the Philippine Health Care Delivery
Systems
A. In connection with the answers above, one of the current trends or issues about
the Philippine Health Care Delivery System is the loss of supply of the Filipino nurses
working here in our nation due to their migration to the hospitals and other medical
institutions abroad. Its main cause is the higher salary and numerous significant
benefits that international hospitals offers for nurses compared to the hospitals
here in our country. In addition, hospitals abroad specifically hire Filipino nurses as
we are known for being naturally caring and loving professionals towards the
patients when compared to other nationalities. These collective factors tend to
encourage our fellow Filipino nurses to work abroad and intentionally leave our
country.

B. When my subject were asked about the current trend regarding the Philippine
Health Delivery System, he spontaneously uttered about the different fields that a
nursing profession present as it is not only enclosed and compressed in a hospital
setting but rather in any other fields depending on the nurse's area of interest. A
nurse can choose whether he/ she will pursue either being a hospital nurse, school
nurse, dental nurse, community health nurse, military nurse, forensic nurse or even
being a clinical instructor. Generally, their field depends on their passion towards
their medical profession.
C. Today, the issue about the "Dengvaxia" has evidentially arised due to the
numerous victims that it made suffer. It was found out that the study about this
vaccine was still incomplete when they already proceeded to its vaccination to the
children. Unfortunately, a lot of children endured its harmful consequences leading
some of them to death.

D. Lastly, in latest Philippine statistics, it was recorded that there are ____________
Filipinos in the Philippines in the present. This reflects that Filipino population has
indeed largely increased from the previous chu chu. Together with this abundant
increase, he said that it is suggestive for the government to greatly give attention
for the Filipino health in order to meet their deserved health need for their
everyday lives. As the national population increases, the professional nurses
population should also increase to maintain a proper management and high quality
of service of the Philippine Health Care System. The higher the population, the
higher the number of the health care providers needed for the promotion and
achievement of Filipino health wellness.

3. What are the programs of the Department of Health that they are implementing
today?

A. The Deartment of Health (DOH) initiates the monitoring of diseases in a

particular area. The Infection Control Nurse of a hospital monitors the weekly and
monthly reportable illnesses experienced by different patients. She accomplishes
forms and then reports it to the City Health. The City Health is the one who records
and reports these illnesses to determine whether this illness have an outbreak in a
specific area of a City or Municipality.

B. In response to the "Dengvaxia" issue, many hospitals provide "Dengvaxia Lane"

or “Dengvaxia Table” to serve as the priority lane for those Dengvaxia patients who
are enduring various symptoms of its dangerous effects. Everytime there are
patients falling on this lane, who are suspected of having fever or dengue, they are
urgently assisted by the nurses to recheck and reasses their conditions. Whoever
needs further assessment and treatment will be immediately delivered to San
Lazaro Hospital for the management of its infectious case.

C. Since the abundant population of the HIV and AIDS victims in the Philippines has
been truly alarming, the DOH initiates the monitoring and screening of the
suspected patients with AIDS or HIV. From this, they determine who are the
patients prone to either of this diseases such as people with multiple partners.
Before screening, the patient undergoes a counselling wherein they will be
oriented about the things that they should expect if they their screening result went
either positive or negative. If it will appear negative then the counsellors tell the
right procedures in maintaining a negative result. On the other hand, if it will turn
out positive, then they will advise them the proper management for the treatment
that they will go through. The screening process takes about 1 to 2 hours and then
the release of its result will follow. If it happened to be a positive result, it will be
immediately reported to the San Lazaro Hospital or Research Institute for Tropical
Medicine which gives free anti-retroviral or any tablets and medicines that will help
in boosting the immune system of the positive patients of HIV or AIDS.

D. The DOH also promotes the breastfeeding program where they encourages all
mothers to exclusively breastfeed their newly born babies. In this exclusive
breastfeeding, the only food that the babies should intake are the breastmilk
coming from their mother during their first few months after being born. In this
method, even water is prohibited. This is to achieve their Millenium Development
Goal which is to reduce the Neonatal Death. Because it was proven that when a
baby is raised from breastfeeding, he or she is insusceptible to various diseases
during their growth development.

E. The Department of Health also provides immunization vaccines for the children.
This includes Oral Polio Vaccine, DPT Vaccine (Diptheria, Pertussis, Tetanus
Vaccine), MMR Vaccine ( Measles, Mumps, Rubella Vaccine), and Measles Vaccine
that are all freely given to children in the Barangay Health Centers for them to avoid
these common diseases that they may acquire as they grow.

F. Another program of the DOH is the requirement for the Health Facility in Lying-
In Centers and Hospitals to execute a new born screening where a blood specimen
will be taken from the newly born babies, 24 hours after their birth delivery. The
specimen gathered will then be transported to the Monitoring Centers which will
test if the baby were positive to certain diseases covered. There are two types of
screening that can be performed in the specimen which depends on the chosen
kind of the parent. The less expensive type can screen and test only limited and few
kinds of diseases. While the much expensive one is the Expanded New Born
Screening which can determine the positivity of the specimen to an extensive and
wider range of diseases.