The Abbariao Difference

With the onset of undersupply of nurses in the United States, American healthcare facilities have been relying on international recruitment agencies to hire more nurses. In all counties around the world, it is the Philippines that has remained to be the top provider of healthcare professionals mainly because they speak English and have the cultural affinity, making adjusting and transitioning much smoother and quicker for the employer and the employee. But there is the danger that the recruitment agency a healthcare facility will transact with is not a POEA licensed recruitment firm from the Philippines.

What exactly is a POEA licensed recruitment firm in the Philippines? What is the necessity of an agency being a POEA licensed recruitment firm? The POEA basically means the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration. A POEA licensed recruitment firm makes sure they abide to the POEA mandate and rules and regulations. There are many non-POEA licensed recruitment firms in the Philippines, and the healthcare facility will be in danger if it hires nurses from those types of agencies. First and foremost, without regulations and mandates, a non-POEA licensed recruitment firm in the Philippines might abuse both their client and the nurses they provide for the hospitals and clinics in the US.

The POEA is a government agency that is responsible for optimizing the benefits of both the country’s overseas employment program and the nursing undersupply crisis America is facing now. POEA was created in 1982 to promote and to monitor the overseas employment of Filipino workers, thus POEA licensed recruitment firms in the Philippines has become a necessity. In 1987, POEA was reorganized to include the following expanded functions: to respond to changing markets and economic condition and to strengthen the workers protection and regulatory components of the overseas employment program. A POEA licensed recruitment firm in the Philippines is then subjected to these functions.

Also, POEA licensed recruitment firms in the Philippines obeys the following mandate which was created in 1995 in the light of emerging issues: guarantee of migrant workers rights; deregulation of POEA licensed recruitment firms in the Philippines regulatory functions; stricter rules on illegal recruitment activities and the corresponding penalties; selective deployment; repatriation of workers; reintegration program; shared government information systems on migration and other basic assistance to OFWs and their families; use of information technology to facilitate dissemination of labor market information; expanded grassroots outreach education program to enable potential OFWs to arrive at informed decisions; one-country team approach to synergize services to Filipino overseas; and restructuring of systems for disposition of adjudication cases relating to overseas employment. That is why it is important that an agency is a POEA licensed recruitment firm in the Philippines.

POEA licensed recruitment firms in the Philippines are subjected under the Deputy Administrator for Adjudication and Employment Regulation which evaluates and monitors performance of licensed agencies and recommends renewal of licenses. It also assists victims of illegal recruitment and at the same time conducts surveillance of suspected illegal recruiters. This is vital when it comes to POEA licensed recruitment firms in the Philippines. There are non-POEA licensed recruitment firms in the Philippines, and hiring nurses from them might make the healthcare facility liable for human trafficking. Also, POEA licensed recruitment firms in the Philippines have more guarantee that the nurses’ rights are protected. The last thing a healthcare facility needs is hiring nurses who are unhappy with their jobs, which would most likely cause them to quit or not finish their contracts.

However, there are still risks in hiring nurses in a POEA licensed recruitment firms in the Philippines. Even if the agency is a POEA licensed recruitment firm in the Philippines, overpricing and provision of inadequate nurses (short-term contracts and low National Council Licensure Examination passing rates) are still possible. That is why healthcare facilities should only trust an agency that is experienced and is reputable. Abbariao International has more than 30 years, even before the POEA was established, of experience in healthcare consulting, management and recruitment both in the US and in the Philippines. As a POEA licensed recruitment firm in the Philippines, it maintains a 100% repeat business from existing clients, with a 94% very satisfied and satisfied approval rate. It also sets the bar high for its nurses and 94% of the applicants pass the NCLEX on the first attempt (the remaining 6% pass on the second attempt). Plus, their prices are 20-30% lower than industry standards. Despite the fact that, upon hiring, the nurses usually break their contract or just have short term contracts, Abbariao International’s nurses, as a POEA licensed recruitment firm in the Philippines, have a long term contract in the US healthcare facilities they are working in, with 97% of all nurses finishing their initial 30 months of contract with their employers and a 98% nurse retention rate; these factors, together with transparency and respect both for their clients and nurses, rank Abbariao International one of the best in the entire nurse recruitment industry.