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Saturday, May 28, 2005
STI leads nursing in Digital Age
HEALTH care is now making its way to the Digital Age. In more developed countries such as the United States, nurses are equipped with a "laptop-on-a-stick", instead of papers on giant three-ring binders for record keeping.
Hospitals are now making huge investments in technology. This has become the barometer for determining which hospital delivers the best in health care.
The top hospital would be the one, which tops in technology. The Philippines is not lagging behind in keeping up with this so-called Digital Age.
Many local hospitals are already in tune with the latest technology. The use of new technology however poses a challenge for hospital workers especially nurses who are really more hands-on with patients.
Recognizing this, STI has intensified the integration of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) education on all its courses including Nursing.
Using its strength in computer education, STI has integrated ICT education in its Nursing course to make nursing professionals even more competitive in the modern environment, particularly in healthcare institutions here and abroad.
STI makes sure that its nursing students are equipped with the proper ICT education for the modern hospital environment. Thus, STI is offering IT for healthcare professionals, which is a subject specially designed for healthcare professionals.
Through this subject, students learn how to use MS office applications like word and excel to their specific field.
During the recent visit of Dr. Gina S. Brown, Ph.D., a registered nurse and Chief Operating Officer of Global Resource for Outsourced Workers (GROW) Healthcare LLC, she lauded Filipino for their professionalism.
Brown said that in her more than 10 years experience working as a nurse in various states in the US, she has never met any other culture who has exhibited such fine display of excellence in terms of work ethic and a uniquely innate caring attitude commonly seen only among Filipino healthcare professionals.
"I've worked with a number of Filipino nurses in the US and they're all excellent. They've got no issue with attendance or re-scheduling and most of all, they're very respectful. Such qualities make them very much appreciated in the US," Brown said.
Nonetheless Brown stressed that Filipino healthcare professionals still needs fine-tuning in the areas of English proficiency, clinical skills and ICT.
She added nurses who want to work in the US need to be kept abreast of the latest technological tools being used today.
GROW Healthcare is a US-based company that provides direct placement and staffing services of nurses to healthcare clients located across the US. Its local counterpart in the Philippines, GROW Inc., is an affiliate company of STI and is one of the fastest growing recruitment agencies in the country today.
Through the partnership, GROW will give qualified STI graduates opportunities to work in some of their affiliated institutions here and abroad.
Vast network, firm commitment
STI is now the largest network of nursing colleges in the country.
This after the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) gave STI the permit to offer nursing courses in 15 of its campuses.
Five other STI campuses were on the other and given provisional permits by CHED.
As of November 8, 2004, the following nursing colleges of STI were given regular permits: Makati, Recto, Fairview, Las Piñas, Meycauayan, Sta. Maria, Baguio, Calamba, Sta. Cruz, San Pablo, Lucena, Rosario, Southwoods, Cagayan de Oro, and Davao.
Meantime the STI schools that were given provisional permits are: Cebu, Cubao, Global City, Muñoz-EDSA and Quezon Avenue. STI shares the vision of CHED to improve the quality or nursing education in the country.
Thus, STI has embarked on a major "retooling program" for its students. Part of the "re-tooling program" is to create a unique, ICT-based curriculum that would incorporate the latest trends in technology with the skills needed to become an effective healthcare practitioner.
STI has also put up state-of-the-art nursing skills laboratories in all campuses offering nursing that were designed to simulate the actual hospital setting.
Combined with STl's unique education and job placement system or the Enrollment-to-Employment System (E2E System), its nursing students will be able to acquire up-to-date skills as required by various healthcare institutions worldwide.
As part of its E2E system, STI has also entered into a partnership agreement with Universal Workers Inc., a review and certification company, to make its students more competitive in the global market.
To complete its unique system, STI is giving its nursing graduates chance to work in major hospitals and healthcare institutions abroad through its partnership with GROW.
(May 28, 2005 issue)
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