Philippine Nursing Licensure Exam 2011 Results: Mother of Attrition in BPOs?

by: Silver Cepeda

I was on the jeepney this Sunday afternoon. In front of me, were two ladies in white obviously the type that is taking a medical course. Suddenly, one of them just broke out exclaiming that she can never make it. The other one calmed her down and reminded her that she was on a public transport. She stopped her dramatic moment. But it did not tone her voice down1. The sobbing lady proclaimed to the people inside (including me) that she the dumbest person on Earth. She continued on narrating the questions where she made mistakes. They were nurses - I realized eventually. While I was still ignorant to the day's event, our ride passed by South Western University. It came to me that today was the famed Philippine Nursing Licensure  Exams. 

I have been in the BPO industry for almost five years. I may not be the best person to write about this. However, I am also a person who witnessed events that happens after the result of the said exams come out. And it is attrition after attrition. Resignation letters would be the order of the day with reasons such as "Personal and Greener pasture" on its menu list. 

On my first BPO job, there was a time when twenty of my colleagues resigned on the night they got the result. Next day, I heard that the total number of people who resigned was seventy for the whole company. Following after that, calls queue up and service level went down. Twenty people, resigned on a single night! That is something. The reason? They passed the board exams for nurses. 

It is well known today and in this country that we are encountering an oversupply of Nurses. I think the trend of taking this course started last 2002 or earlier. Yes, I was in high school and was informed that my friends outside the seminary would be joining in. They wanted to work abroad. But due to the OVER supply, they ended up jobless and the BPO Industry welcomed them.

I am not cynical to nurses. I don't hate them. I have to be honest that my aunt is a Chief Nurse, my sister and another aunt is a nurse. Thus, I don't have any problem with them. There is just one trend that keeps on happening. And that trend is a vicious cycle that affects a center's operation. Scheduled leaves or PTOs would have to be cancelled because seats are empty.Simply because, the person who used to occupy it apparently resigned or went AWOL having passed the board exams. This practice triggered some centers to ban nursing graduates. They simply would not accept them. But then again, my trainer in Convergys once said that a nurse happens to be the kind of employee who demonstrates patience on the phone. With this aspect or attitude, they get good customer satisfaction. So there is a dilemma now. There are things that needed to be considered.

There are different reasons why a center suffers in attrition. I am not saying that it is solely because of the board exams' result. Nevertheless, it is a factor. Again, based on my experience. The painful fact is, attrition does not just start after the exams. Sometimes it happens before it. The reason? They need to submit certain requirements and thus they cannot report to work. Whatever the reason is, an absence is still an absence affecting the service level of a center.

The results may not be the mother of all attrition. However, there will be. I think so. The solution to avoid this cycle is not to accept or to ban nurses from the BPO industry. It would be an unprofessional decision. They are still people with a diploma and is a college graduate. So they matter. But what I am saying is, that the nurses who would like to work in call centers should or must have a certain level of commitment. A high one - I hope. I have seen licensed nurses flourished or grew in the industry. In fact a fellow TL of mine is a licensed nurse. And she has been in the company longer than I did. She was and is dedicated with her job. She did not make it her "stepping stone" like some people that I know of. 

There is challenge now for Human Resource personnel. They should not be dismissing nursing graduates.They are still future resources of the company. However, they must set up some plans in order for these nursing graduates to work as long as needed. They must do this to assure a center's quality performance.