Nursing curriculum gets add’l 28 units

The Commission on Higher Education is set to implement a new Nursing curriculum this schoolyear adding more units to the present four-year course.

CHED-7 education supervisor Jucel Ann Jumao-as said that under CHED’s Memorandum Order No. 5, CHED chairman Romulo Neri directed nursing schools nationwide to add another 28 units to the present 169 units of the nursing curriculum.

This means additional three summer classes to the present eight-semester course. Practicum hours would also increase by 561 hours from the current requirement of 2,142 hours.

Jumao-as said the new policies are aimed at further honing students’ technical knowledge and skills, making them more competent and competitive at work.

“The implementation of this order will depend upon the school. It is with their discretion whether or not to implement it this year,” Jumao-as said at the consultative meeting with presidents and school heads.

The plan to change the nursing curriculum has something to do with the recent results of the licensure examinations wherein only less than half achieved a passing mark.

Based on the CHED records, many nursing examinees failed in Basic English as well as in oral and written communications.

At present, the country remains to be the top source of nurses because of the so-called ability of the Filipinos to communicate in English.

However, recent studies showed that the country may lose its advantage over other countries.

Last year, the country was able to produce a record of 60,199 new nurses.

According to the Professional Regulatory Commission, around 100,000 are expected to take the nursing licensure examinations this year.

But the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations has filed a temporary restraining order on the implementation of the new curriculum and said the imposition of additional subjects is unfair to schools and students.

Fr. Rod Salazar, Jr. who is the chairperson of the Cocopea and the president of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines as well as the University of San Carlos, asked the suspension of the order until after all stakeholders have discussed ways of improving the nursing education.

”We are appealing to CHED to suspend the implementation until we have considered in depth and at length how we can truly improve the quantity and quality of the nurses we educate,” Salazar said.

According to Salazar, schools reject the implementation of CMO 5 for several reasons. The first, he said, is that “no public hearings were conducted by CHED.”

“This is in violation of CHED’s mandate that the recommendation of the agency’s panel of experts is subject to public hearing. Due process was not clearly observed,” Salazar said.

Second, he said, is that the decision will unduly burden nursing students as they will have to endure another 28 additional units which would also mean an additional three summers of schooling.

“In effect, what is being presented as a four-year course actually runs up to five years,” he said.

The third reason, he said, is that the required learning experience would be increased by 561 hours or 11 units from the present 2,142 hours.

“Considering the great difficulties of finding suitable hospitals and places for the RLE, the increased logistical problem of schools, under the old nursing curriculum, there already aren’t enough hospitals for the required clinical hours,” he said. — Jasmin R. Uy/MEEV