The Filipino Nurses in Ireland New Generation (FNING) conducted its first “Meet and Greet” event on August 13, 2016 in Makati Avenue, 48 Capel St, Dublin 1. The event was attended by the members of the group as well as the existent frontrunners of the different nursing associations in Ireland.
The Filipino Nurses in Ireland New Generation is a non-profit organization which aims to provide information to aspiring Filipino Nurses who wish to register in Ireland. It also envisions to create a new community of nurses willing to share and support good causes.
The group started as a Facebook page created by Mr. Michael Bryan Surla, together with the other two members namely Ms. Genevieve Ann Corsino and Mr. Josh Nograles. At the beginning, the group was a private form of communication among nurses who have current applications in Ireland. But within ten months it has gained its popularity among aspiring nurses and bloomed into a 2700 members. At present, the group is able to deploy nurses in Ireland with the cooperation of some recruitment agencies in which the group is tied up with. The current group administrators also offer guidance to thousands of nurses inquiring regarding registration through personal messages.
The first “Meet and Greet” event was indeed a success. The occasion was highlighted by the attendance of the former Philippines Nurses’ Association in Ireland (PNAI) President, Mr. Jimmy Almodovar, as well as the current President, Ms. Benilda Mendoza Macabulos. The other PNAI Members, Ms. Vangie Bustamante Oconer (Treasurer) and Ms. Rhodelia Regala Denofra (Corresponding Secretary) were also present in the gathering. The officers enlightened the new nurses about the short history of PNAI, its benefits and their proposed programs and activities. The new nurses took the opportunity to register and renew their PNA registrations.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Association (INMO), represented by Mr. Albert Murphy (Membership Campaign Coordinator) and Mr. Cres Abragan (INMO Officer), also had their presentation about safe nursing practice in Ireland. They have accentuated the issues about bullying in workplace, what to do in case of sentinel events such as medication errors, how the INMO could protect the nurses in case these incident happen, and the compensations of joining the INMO. The representatives from the Council of Filipino Leaders formerly Filipino Community Network (FCN) Ms. Jocelyn Dizon and St. James’ Hospital Nurses’ Association Ms. Jean Garcia also gave inspiring talks to the new nurses. Mr. Ringo Acle Olavario, also an FCN Coordinator rendered a conversation about finance and income protection.
It was such an educational day and the nurses were blissful to listen to these information. The group also had a raffle for free IELTS review and examination. Three lucky nurse aspirants from the Philippines received free review packages, sponsored by Mr Ervin Nil Temporal, owner of Niner 9.0 Review Center. Through the donations from the group members, two IELTS examination sponsorships were raffled. One candidate from Saudi Arabia and another from Oman were fortunately selected.
Everyone enjoyed the Filipino lunch buffet served by Ms. Angie Norton in Makati Avenue Restaurant. The new officers and Coordinator in County Cork for PNAI were also nominated by Ms. Macabulos. It was indeed a fruitful day that ended with all smiles and a promise that more activities and gathering will follow in the future.