CHED orders addition of 2 new nursing subjects

MANILA, Philippines – In a bid to ensure the quality of future nurses, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has ordered the addition of two new subjects in the nursing curriculum that will focus on teaching freshmen nursing students the ethics and commitment involved in the profession.

The subjects – Theoretical Foundation in Nursing and Fundamentals of Nursing Practice – will be added to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) curriculum starting school year 2008-2009 as contained in CHED Order Number 5 series of 2008.

Dr. William Medrano, CHED executive director, said the move was in line with recommendations of the Technical Committee on Nursing Education composed of luminaries in the field of nursing.

Medrano stressed that the addition of the two subjects came before the so-called canister scandal at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu.

“The order was issued before that scandal. The move to add the two subjects came as a result of a recommendation made by the Technical Committee,” Medrano said.

But while the move was praised by nursing school deans and hospital administrators, school owners and administrators opposed the order.

The Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations (COCOPEA) and its affiliate private schools’ associations trooped to the CHED office in Pasig City last Monday to seek the suspension of the order’s implementation.

In a dialogue with CHED officials led by Chairman Romulo Neri, COCOPEA pointed out that CHED failed to hold a public hearing before issuing the order.

The Association of Deans of the Colleges of Nursing of the Philippines and the Association of Private Hospitals in the Philippines, meantime, lauded CHED’s decision to add the two new subjects.

Carmelita Divinagracia, president of the Association of Deans of the Colleges of Nursing of the Philippines, said that with the two subjects, the code of ethics of the profession would be inculcated in future Filipino nurses.