2 Pinay nurses pass Frankfurt state examinations

MANILA, Philippines - Two Filipino nurses have passed Frankfurt state examinations and became the first Filipinos to become registered in Germany, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported yesterday.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said nurses Krystel Anne Sumido and Eowyn Galvez are employed in German private hospitals under the Philippines and Germany’s “Triple Win Project.”

They successfully passed the Gesundheits-und Krankenpflegerin, Germany’s official state examination for nurses.

“This is a happy development because two Filipinos have achieved the record of being the first Filipino nurses to have passed as Qualified Nurses,” Baldoz said.

Baldoz said the achievement of Galvez and Sumido was expected to pave the way for the hiring of more Filipino nurses in Germany.

The labor chief said Galvez and Sumido were among 27 Filipino nurses hired in Germany under the Triple Win Project, which started last year.

The project will include deployment of at least 500 Filipino nurses and other health care workers in the first year of implementation.

Prior to hiring, qualified applicants must undergo language training for six months. There are 70 Filipino nurses undergoing language training, and 114 others either waiting for language training, looking for an employer or awaiting deployment.

Hans Cacdac, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) chief, said other Filipino nurses deployed to Germany through Triple Win would have their chance to take the recognition examination, after getting their European Language Certificates (ELC).

Cacdac said three Filipino nurses who took the ELC test had passed.

A Joint Working Committee for the project will convene this year to help boost the migration program, he said.

“The challenge at hand is getting other qualified employers who can sustain the benchmark that has been established by the hospitals which started participating in Triple Win,” Cacdac noted.

Cacdac said they were looking for more employers who are similarly willing to invest in foreign nurses and pay for the costs involved in the nurses’ study of the German language, which they need in order to be deployed.