95,000 to take nursing exam tomorrow

MANILA, Philippines - More than 95,000 nursing graduates are set to take the two-day licensure examination starting tomorrow, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) said yesterday.

Marco Sto. Tomas, member of the PRC’s Board of Nursing (BON), said the number of examinees who will take the nursing board exam (NLE) reached an all-time high of 95,282.

Sto. Tomas said Metro Manila accounted for the biggest number of examinees with 40,621, followed by Baguio, 14,102; Cebu, 8,899; Davao, 8,143; and Iloilo, 6,020.

Due to the high number of               examinees, PRC has put up additional testing centers in La Union to accommodate those from Pangasinan, Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur.

Reviewing past NLE results, Sto. Tomas said the passing rate in the examination has been declining, indicating the need for academe to identify where the examinees are having difficulty.

He said the test given by the BON is meant to test the “minimum competencies” of the country’s nursing graduates to assume entry-level positions.

“BON is mandated to regulate the practice of the profession, there is much to be desired at the production lines if we were to consider our national ‘health human resource’ strategies, and this concern goes back to the colleges of Nursing under the supervision of the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd),” Sto. Tomas pointed out.   

Despite the 40 percent national passing rate, Sto. Tomas said many of the board passers remain jobless due to lack of actual two-year employment experience required by foreign employers.

Recruitment industry leader Lito Soriano confirmed the BON’s observation that there is still a huge demand for Filipino nurses abroad but they are having difficulty filling the job orders.

“Filipino nurses are highly in demand abroad, particularly in the Middle East, but most of our applicants are not qualified because they do not have actual work experience, only volunteer work,” Soriano said. – Mayen Jaymalin