300 nurses barred from taking board

A nursing school in Mindanao has barred 300 of its students from taking this month’s board examinations in an alleged effort to manipulate the school’s dismal performance rating and avoid being ordered closed.

The controversy broke out a year after the leakage-tainted nursing licensure examination scandal in June 2006, involving Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) officials and at least three nursing review centers.

One of the students, Jennilyn Nesnia, said in an email to The STAR that officials of Dipolog Medical Center College Inc. did not allow them to take the exams for unspecified reasons.

Nesnia maintained that she had submitted all the requirements for registration set by the PRC, except for the justification letter from the school.

“The school allowed a mere 10 percent of the 366 students of this year’s graduating class to take the board exam – among them 28 students who took a P40,000 review course in Manila,” Nesnia said.

American professor Darren Smith, a friend of Nesnia’s, said DMC was apparently trying to manipulate the passing rate of the school by handpicking only those with perceived higher chances of passing the exams.

With a seven-year history of below 40-percent passing rate in the licensure exams, DMC is reportedly facing closure.

But DMC vice president Alberto Concha explained that Nesnia was not allowed to take the coming examinations because she was not qualified.

He said DMC nursing students – before enrollment – are informed of the rules governing licensure exams.

“Under the rules, a student, in order to qualify for the June board examinations, must be able to get a rating of 80 percent and she only got 77.89 percent,” he said.        – Mayen Jaymalin