Nursing RP nurses to regain public trust

The result of the investigations looking into the "leakage" of answers to Tests 3 and 5 of the controversial June 11 and 12, 2006 nursing licensure examination (NLE) have confirmed many things. I noted quite a number of disturbing revelations reading through the 41-paged report submitted last Thursday to Malacañang Palace by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) that looked into the nursing exam leakage scandal.

In the summary of their findings, the NBI recommended the prosecution of 17 individuals as the alleged guilty parties as well as the retake of Tests 3 and 5 by all the examinees. "A retake is more of a ‘vote of confidence’ that vouches capabilities and puts to rest all questions on our nurses’ skill and knowledge as health workers," the NBI report stated.

But the saddest thing that surfaced from the NBI investigation is the validation of concerns on the deteriorating quality of graduates being churned out in the more than 100 accredited nursing colleges all over the country. Even those who admitted having gotten the leaked tests did not pass the NLE. Thus, I agree that a retake on the tests in question by all the examinees would settle the issue once and for all, and remove the cloud of doubt over the competence of those who passed as licensed nurses.

"Truly, if it were not for the leakage the holding of the NLE would not have been marred by much unsavory publicity which have placed the established institutions to shame and the profession of nursing in the country in bad light," the NBI report said.

Records showed very gloomy prospects based on the historical decline in the number of those passing the NLE while the number of those who want to become registered nurses has been increasing. From the most recent recorded NLE passing rate of 54 percent in 2001, it went down to 46 percent in 2002 and slid to 43 percent in 2003. The NLE passers grew to 55.9 percent in 2004. But it went down again to 49.7 percent in 2005. And in the leak-tainted NLE in June this year, only 41.24 percent out of the 42,000 examinees passed it.

So it was a welcome decision reached last week by President Arroyo and her Cabinet for the government to address the roots of the problem that were brought out in the open by this "leakage" scandal, the sub-standard education being given to our future nurses. The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) should go after these nursing schools that have mushroomed all over the country and have produced graduates willing to pay so much just to pass the NLE and quickly apply for high-paying job abroad to work as nurses or care-givers.

I agree with one of the findings in the NBI report that it is "not a farfetched idea" that such leakage did not happen only in the last June,2006 NLE "but in previous ones as well." This particular point raised by the NBI on the conduct of the nursing exam, as administered by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), should compel higher authorities to call for a wider probe and clampdown against these nefarious activities in this government agency. Aside from the NLE, the PRC also conducts other professional licensing examinations. If it happened at the NLE, what more in other PRC-administered licensure examinations for other professionals?

The eight-man NBI probe team focused its investigation on the June, 2006 NLE since this was the only mandated task they were supposed to conduct. The NBI identified 17 individuals from the R.A. Gapuz Review Center, Inress Review Center and Pentagon Review Specialist Inc., as the culpable parties allegedly directly or indirectly involved in the "leakage" .

Much earlier, however, the same NBI probe team recommended the filing of graft charges and violation of Republic Act 8981 or the Act Modernizing the PRC against Anesia Dionisio and Virginia Madeja, former members of the Board of nursing (BON) of the PRC as the alleged sources of the leaked tests.

The mere fact that two of the BON members were found culpable should have already prodded PRC chairperson, Leonor Tripon-Rosero to at least accept command responsibility for this nursing scam and to offer her resignation from office out of delicadeza (propriety). But delicadeza has already become a rare virtue for many of those in government service. The PRC chairperson failed to handle the brewing nursing leakage allegations in its early stages until it erupted into a full-blown scandal. Being an agency directly under the Office of the President, the anomaly reached the doorsteps of the Palace and landed right on top of the desk of President Arroyo.

And before Rosero could do more harm and worsen this national issue, the Chief Executive rightfully placed the PRC under the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), headed by Sec.Arturo Brion, who now exercises the general direction and coordination of this agency. To this end, the President issued Executive Order 565 last Sept.11. A month later, she further amended this and issued EO 565-A to specifically delegate the DOLE Secretary the presidential power of control and supervision over the PRC.

Last Friday, the Court of Appeals (CA) ruled that nursing graduates who passed the licensure examination conducted in areas outside of Metro Manila and Baguio and those who registered, but did not attend the "final coaching" sessions of the three review centers suspected of leaking test questions may immediately take their oath as licensed nurses. The temporary restraining order (TRO) earlier issued by the CA to suspend the holding of any oath-taking by NLE passers lapses on Oct.18. The court left it to Malacañang to decide on who among the examinees should have their professional license revoked.

In the CA ruling, the court threw out the PRC formula for the recomputation of the test scores to correct the leakage. The CA decision also ordered a retake of Tests 3 and 5 for the 1,186 NLE examinees whose names were added to the list of some 17,000 passers following the recomputation of test scores done by the PRC. It turned out to be nothing but a "dagdag-bawas" scheme devised by the Rosero-led PRC to purportedly remove whatever advantage some examinees might have gained from the "leakage."

Brion, who was once a CA justice before he was appointed as DOLE Secretary, is aware of how the wheels of justice grinds slow in our country. He will have to come up with a "Solomonic" solution to help restore public trust to our nurses at the soonest possible time, without waiting for the expected appeals to follow the CA ruling.

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