Are Filipino Nurses Properly Motivated?

On the 18^th of August year 2006, I had the utmost privilege of delivering the Opening Remarks of the 38^th Capping and Pinning Ceremonies of the College of Nursing of World Citi Colleges held at Crossroad 77.

My short but profound speech centered on the concept of motivation. It is a common knowledge that nursing is a lucrative profession, that is why many nursing schools had very high enrollment around that time.

The objective of my speech was to make my students do some introspection as to what motivated them to be part of the nursing profession: is it genuine love for the job, or the need for something else?

Here it is:

Welcome to the 38^th Capping and Pinning Ceremonies of the College of Nursing!

I am deeply honored, overjoyed and grateful to represent the College of Arts and Sciences in this very important event in your college life. As we all know, the CAS has been your temporary shelter where your first mentors taught you the necessary skills, values and knowledge that you needed before you were sent to your real home – the College of Nursing.

The cap or pin that you will wear from this day forward, signals your journey to the service of humanity – those who are unwell, those who are frail, and those who are in dire need of care. But before you embark on this particular voyage, let me ask you:

Are you properly motivated?

Do you possess the proper intention?

Or the better question is: what motivated you to become a nurse?

We all know the reason why almost every individual aspires to become a nurse – to make his life and that of his family several steps better and improved. But the material rewards that your chosen profession may guarantee have a limited shelf life for they are all tangible – they are perishable goods. Nothing lasts forever except one thing: man’s sense of self fulfillment.

It is understandable though that at this point in time you all want to be pragmatic. But fifty years from now I know that you will realize that what will matter most in life are not the riches that you have acquired, but how many patients whom you have served sincerely, conscientiously, and compassionately. It will not matter how much money you have kept in your piggy bank, for what will matter by then will be the number of lives that you have touched, and how you have made a difference in their lives.

This kind of fulfillment will be the hallmarks of your existence, the jewels that you may pass on to the next generation. In other words, your existential legacy to humankind.

Do not think of how the nursing profession can “touch” you, but (rather) how you can “touch” the nursing profession. Let this serve as your guiding principle, as you collide with the crests and troughs of the nursing wave.

Congratulations and a pleasant morning to all of you!