Credibility haunts rp nurses

Talk of shooting one’s self on the foot. More than the recent brouhaha of an alleged leakage of questions in the nursing board examinations, the more alarming problem is the fact that despite the reported leakage, the passing percentage was less than 50 percent, with only 17,000 out of 42,000 examinees making the grade.

The fact that 25,000 nursing graduates flunked the tests validates the nagging yet unresolved issue of declining quality of nursing education. Foreign employers have recently taken note of the poor skills, knowledge, and English speaking and comprehension proficiency of many Filipino nurses who have since been sent home.

Now this leakage scandal is expected to further add to the negative impact on the marketability of nurses abroad or even in our nurse-starved country. Yes, there have been reports that even local hospitals would not entertain applicants from among members of the batch that took the questionable examinations. Whew! What a mess.

Imagine the dire ramifications of this exam leakage. Who can blame foreign and local employers if they hesitate to hire newly licensed Filipino nurses tainted by the leakage scandal? More seriously, though, who can stop them from being suspicious that this breach of security of test questions may have also occurred in previous licensure examinations? Or that this malady may occur again in the future.

Whatever are we going to do to thousands of nursing graduates who will be unable to land jobs overseas as well as here in our country due to the tainted credibility of the licensure examinations?

Averting disaster

Easily, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) must lead the way in immediately and adequately addressing this looming disaster before it gets blown out of proportions.

For starters, PRC has to move to invalidate the results of the tainted nursing examinations. It may be unfair for those who legitimately passed without the aid of a "leakage," but it looks like this drastic move is the only viable way to erase the stigma of "cheating." Those among the 17,000 who passed without cheating need not worry since they apparently have what it takes to pass the board.

Of course, PRC should not collect from these "passing" examinees the fee for re-taking the examination. This is the least PRC can do to lessen the additional costs that will be incurred by the "victims" of this scandal.

But of course, an untainted re-test by the PRC should not be the end-all. It should pursue relentlessly the investigation and prosecute those found guilty. PRC owes it to all would-be professionals, not only in nursing but in other professions that are licensed by PRC.

There may also be a need to change the manner by which the Board of Nursing members are selected. Apparently, nursing board members are appointed or nominated by the Philippine Nurses Association whose members include school owners, administrators and officials. Clear danger signs here.

A possible solution that may mitigate the risks and allegations of examination leakages and school biases is to appoint respected head nurses, veteran specialty nurses and overseas-based nurse supervisors as members of the board that would formulate test questions. That way, questions would better simulate clinical situations and trends both here and overseas.

Nursing industry leaders may have their own ideas of addressing this mess, but this latest national scandal must be corrected fast if we are to preserve the credibility of our nurses and other professionals, and save face before the rest of the world.

Others are watching

We must wake up to the reality that unlike before, the market for migrant nurses is no longer an almost exclusive enclave of the Philippines. While the Philippines remains the biggest exporter of nurses to various industrialized countries, not too far behind are India, China and Mexico.

The nurses from India are said to be the most proficient in English among migrant nurses, and are becoming sought-after candidates for foreign nursing jobs. Chinese nurses are learning English fast and are being tapped to cater to the growing Chinese communities worldwide. Meanwhile some US hospitals are looking South of the border to Mexico for their nursing requirements. Flying in nurses from Mexico is definitely a cheaper alternative.

And Filipino nurses? They may still enjoy a good reputation, but this is fast waning due to serious issues that remain unresolved locally: poor training, declining English language skills, a depreciating quality of education, and now, questionable licensure examination results.

These are scary facts for would be nurses and would-be overseas bound nurses. If this licensure examination leakage issue worsens or, heaven forbid, repeated, professional Filipino nurses abroad would become a vanishing breed.

Purge now

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) along with lawmakers have been discussing and looking into the matter of declining quality of nursing education, and have easily put the blame on the sudden boom in the number of nursing schools.

The CHED in fact began tightening the noose on fly-by-night and sub-par nursing schools but ran smack into strong lobby from owners of such institutions. Former CHED chief Rev. Fr. Rolando dela Rosa initiated the crackdown on sub-par nursing schools but was replaced even before significant gains were achieved.

The usual politics and lack of will appear to have derailed the undertaking. For the sake of the future of nursing care here and overseas, the campaign to cull the sector of substandard nursing schools should be top priority. Paging, CHED chairman Carlito Puno.

Hold’em Challenge at Angeles City

Philippine Poker Tour (PPT) announced that the next qualifying leg for the Million-Peso Hold’em Philippine Championship will be held at Casino Filipino Angeles City on Saturday, 2nd September 2006. Winners of this satellite tournament will be awarded guaranteed seats to the grand finals to be held on 16th and 17th December at Casino Filipino Pavilion Manila.

The 2nd Million-Peso Hold’em Philippine Championship is the biggest non-wager tournament to date with P3 million worth of prizes at stake. The champion of the grand finals is guaranteed to receive P1 million and the much-coveted champion bracelet. Many are expected to participate in the grand finals through the satellite tournament route. With tournament fees as low as P2,500 to P3,000, one can enter satellite competitions and earn a chance to win the valuable prizes at stake during the Grand Finals.

Those interested to know more about the Angeles Hold’em Challenge and details on how to join satellite tournaments may visit the PPT official website www.PhilippinePokerTour.com <http://www.philippinepokertour.com/> or call the secretariat (c/o Cindy) at 817-9092 or 812-0153.

Should you wish to share any insights, write me at Link Edge, 4th Floor, 156 Valero Street, Salcedo Village, 1227 Makati City. Or e-mail me at [email protected] or at [email protected]. If you wish to view the previous columns, you may visit my website at http://bizlinks.linkedge.biz