The delay in the processing of Commonwealth-only work permits has affected some nurses at the Commonwealth Health Center.<\/p>\n
Already short-staffed units such as the pediatric unit and the medical-surgical unit were reduced further by one nurse each as their CW-1 permits have yet to be released.<\/p>\n
According to CHC director of nursing Leslie B. Camacho, the two nurses have already stopped working.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do feel it with the shortage of staff anyway on those particular units, but it\u2019s definitely not as dramatic as other companies or corporations,\u201d Camacho said in an interview.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt hasn\u2019t affected us too badly. Not until the big group that\u2019s going to be in the summer,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Camacho said a bigger batch of nurses would be requiring CW renewals around July of this year.<\/p>\n
The hospital has about 152 nurses, more than 80 percent or about 127 of which are foreign workers.<\/p>\n
Camacho said they are already working on the renewals of the next batch even earlier than the prescribed 90 days in advance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re doing it in advance to try and prevent delays if at all possible,\u201d Camacho said.<\/p>\n
Up to 8 months
\nAside from renewals, the hospital is also having a hard time with their petitions for new hires.<\/p>\n
Since last year, they have been working on nine petitions for nurses from the Philippines and haven\u2019t been successful in any of them yet.<\/p>\n
Camacho said all the requirements for hiring the nurses\u2014including NCLEX and CNMI nursing license, which take some time to be processed as well\u2014have already been met and only U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services process is hindering these nurses from coming to the island.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just the USCIS. We won\u2019t recommend hiring without the NCLEX and current CNMI nursing license,\u201d Camacho said.<\/p>\n
The nursing director noted that the petition process usually takes them about five to eight months.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very lengthy process so by the time they get here it\u2019s already almost due for renewal. It\u2019s a bit challenging,\u201d Camacho said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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