Nurses association now in favor of no exam retake

In a sudden change of heart, the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) now supports a "no retake" of the cheating-tainted nursing licensure examinations last June.

The PNA joined yesterday the bandwagon of sectors which staunchly opposed a retake of the nursing exam, a 180-degree turn from its previous position supporting the retake of Test 3 and 5 in the exams.

PNA president Dr. Marilyn Yap said they came up with the position after holding a referendum with PNA governors who represent members across the country.

"The governors met with their constituents who wanted that the board passers be allowed to take their oath. Of the 17 governors of PNA, only three to four opposed. We were swarmed with appeals for the oath-taking to resume soon," Yap told The STAR.

During an emergency meeting early this month, the PNA decided to support the stand that all examinees should retake Test 3 and 5, which were allegedly leaked prior to the exam.

But a lot of members have complained that they were not consulted before the PNA issued its stand. Thus, the nursing association decided to call for a referendum.

Yap said the PNA offices were flooded with letters from as far as Cagayan both from board passers and their parents about the financial burden of taking another exam. "They cited financial concerns should there be a retake," Yap said

Earlier, the head of the Alliance of New Nurses, Renato Aquino, cited financial concerns as one of the reasons why their group is opposed to the retake of the exam.

Aquino said many of the nursing board passers come from the provinces and they spend for their board and lodging review in Metro Manila. The alliance is composed of board passers who recently launched a signature drive to demand the prosecution of the perpetrators of the irregularities, without sacrificing their wishes not to take another exam.

For Yap, it was "unfair" for the majority of the board passers who did not benefit from the leakage to suffer the consequences of a retake.

Yap said the PNA believes that by excluding the leaked questions, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) has done enough to cleanse the examination.

"The invalidation of the questions and the computation of grades made by the PRC is legitimate. The advantage of those who benefited from the leakage was removed," she added.