US nursing body rejects RP appeal

A US nursing commission has flatly rejected the appeal of a high-level task force from the Philippines to reconsider its decision requiring passers of the cheating-tainted June 2006 licensure examination to retake and pass the test before they can be issued Visa Screen certificates to allow them to work in the United States.

"The sooner the responsible authorities in the Philippines move forward to implement the steps for a retake of Tests 3 and 5, without the need for Philippine nurses to surrender their current licenses in order to do so, the better it will be for all concerned," the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) said in its website.

Malacañang said a retake might be in order, even as Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said they are still awaiting the official report of Labor Secretary Arturo Brion on the result of the appeal made by the task force led by Bacolod City Rep. Monico Puentevella.

"The last position we had was for a voluntary retake for the June 2006 (exam) takers so that they can validate their papers in going to the US," Ermita said. "So I supposed that (retake) would still follow because what has to be corrected is the impression created abroad especially in CGFNS that those who took and passed had questionable qualifications."

Puentevella said he has already spoken to President Arroyo about the CGFNS decision, adding he is going to meet with her again today.

"There are other options which the President can decide to pursue. It’s a very complex problem," Puentevella told The STAR in a text message.

After listening to and reviewing the concerns of the delegation, CGFNS board of trustees president Dr. Lucille Noel and chief executive officer Dr. Barbara Nichols explained that the decision was based on the requirements of US law and was not subject to renegotiation or further review.

"This decision was based on US law and what the US law required of CGFNS in the circumstances of the June 2006 examination. The key question was not what Philippine authorities did, but what US authorities would have done in similar circumstances," it said.

The website said the CGFNS determined that in the case of the June 2006 Nursing Board examination, "the compromise situation was handled in a way that was not comparable to the way it had been handled in the US."

The task force led by Puentevella met on Monday with CGFNS officials led by Joel and Nichols, and counsel to CGFNS John Ratigan at the CGFNS headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for an "extended discussion" on the recent decision of the CGFNS to deny Visa Screen certification to the 2006 passers unless they retake Tests 3 and 5.

Puentevella was accompanied by other members of the Task Force composed of Dr. Leonor Rosero, chair of the Professional Regulation Commission, Dr. Remigia Nathanielz, representing the Commission on Higher Education and Philippine Nurses Association, and the leader of a group of June 2006 nursing licensees, Renato Aquino.

Puentevella said that while CFGNS "finds nothing wrong with our nursing system, we have no one to blame but ourselves for making too much noise about the exam controversy.

"After four hours of dialogue, our appeal was denied with several factors without prejudice to us seeking other options."

Ermita said retaking and passing tests 3 and 5, as required by CFGNS, would "cure" the situation and allow the board passers to be "accepted under the aegis of CGFNS."

The CGFNS said it has been gathering information on this matter almost since it occurred.

In fact, Nichols led a fact-finding team to Manila in September 2006 for exactly that purpose. The CGFNS said it "has been well and thoroughly informed of developments throughout this process."

The CGFNS said as Nichols advised Rosero, "the decision on this issue made and announced by the CGFNS board of trustees on Feb. 14 was unanimous. That decision is final, and will not be reconsidered. The Philippine delegation accepted that fact.

"We hope that is the message the delegation will take back to the Philippines – that the time for challenges and delegations is past," it said.

The CGFNS announced last Oct. 26 that it was questioning the eligibility for Visa Screen certification of the Philippine nurses who passed the June 2006 nursing licensing exam based on the widespread allegations that the exam had been compromised.

The CGFNS board of trustees directed its staff and counsel to review and assess whether the licensure process based on the challenged results of the June 2006 exam is "comparable" with that required for nurses licensed in America, as required by US law.

The CGFNS then made a final determination on Feb. 14 this year "that the licensure process was not comparable and moved to deny Visa Screen certification for Philippine nurses who passed the compromised June 2006 Philippine Licensure Examination."

The CGFNS Visa Screen Program, administered by the International Commission on Healthcare Professions (ICHP), a division of CGFNS, is a federal screening program mandated by US immigration law.

US law designates CGFNS to determine whether internationally-educated healthcare professionals who wish to obtain a visa to practice in the US possess education, training, license and experience that is "comparable with that required for an American healthcare worker of the same type."— With Aurea Calica