July 2011 Nursing Board Exam Results July 2011 Nurse Licensure Examination Results

EDITORIAL
No other way

http://opinion.inq7.net/inquireropinion/editorial/view_article.php?article_id=16915

Inquirer
Last updated 00:33am (Mla time) 08/24/2006

Published on Page A10 of the August 24, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

ALL too quickly -- and predictably -- the graduates who received passing marks in the June 2006 nursing exams are discovering the folly of insisting that they be accorded immediate recognition as members of the profession. A number who sought jobs in various hospitals have been turned away, while others who already had one foot in, having started their training, have been told they could not continue because patients didn't want to be put under their care.

One nursing graduate who applied with several government and private hospitals in Metro Manila didn't even get the courtesy of being told that her application had been rejected. But Bea Tibacan noted that one question was invariably asked every time she submitted her job application: Did you pass the June exams? And every time she said yes, "the atmosphere, their tone would suddenly change," Tibacan said of her interviewers. There's discrimination here, she said, which is "so unfair."

Of course, it is unfair, but such "discrimination" is unlikely to vanish if many in her batch of graduates would get their wish. They are demanding that they be allowed to take their oath and that they be issued licenses to practice the profession. But the leakage of examination questions in two subjects, which nobody now disputes, has cast serious doubts on the integrity of the exams. And, quite naturally, the preparation for the job
and the competence of those who passed the exams have been put in question. The end result is that hospitals are reluctant to hire those who passed the June exams.

The owner of one review center said 15 nursing graduates who had taken review classes in his school couldn't find a hospital willing to accept them. Which is understandable, he said. "We can't really blame the patients or the hospitals because they have reason to be worried." The stigma of cheating has been attached to those who took the exams, and what is most needed now is to clear their names. The best way to do that is to nullify the results and require those who passed to retake the exams, he suggested.

There is no other way. The leakage was first traced to a review school in Baguio City. But now the investigation has been widened to include 22 nursing schools whose deans allegedly took part in the "final coaching" of examinees, after some examination questions had been leaked to them by a former president of the Philippine Nurses Association. Even if the students of all these schools are barred from taking their oath, there is no guarantee that other examinees didn't receive similar "tips." In other words, the integrity of the test has been so badly compromised that everyone who took it cannot now escape suspicion.

And that problem is not solved by simply setting aside the results of exams in the two subjects, as the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) has proposed. For as critics have pointed out, that would mean admitting half-baked nurses into the practice of a profession where what they do could sometimes mean life or death for a patient. But then what can one expect from officials who think they have to consult the examinees before
they would decide whether to make them retake a test that has been tainted by cheating? They seem to have forgotten that their first obligation is to ensure that those who are admitted to regulated professions have the competence to carry out their functions. It is not to run a popularity contest.

This is why the graduates, the students and their teachers who have been doing all they can to stop the PRC from recognizing the result of the recent board exams deserve the support and encouragement of those who cherish the nursing profession. By insisting that the exams should be honest and above suspicion, they help ensure that competence is preserved in the nursing profession. And given the magnitude of the scandal, which
has already attracted international attention, they are the ones who will help save the reputation of our nurses, our nursing schools and the entire profession, which have been a rich source of nurses and caregivers for many other nations.

FROM : http://opinion.inq7.net/inquireropinion/editorial/view_article.php?article_id=16915

Posted by Budek on Thursday, August 24, 2006 at 11:32 AM | Permalink

July 2011 Nurse Licensure Examination Result - July 2011 Nurse Board Exam Result

July 2011 Nurse Licensure Examination Result - July 2011 Nurse Board Exam Result

QUICKLINKS : CHAT RULES / PINOYBSN FORUM

No other way

PBSN Forum

Search

Previous posts

Archives

Links

July 2011 Nurse Licensure Examination Result - July 2011 Nurse Board Exam Result

July 2011 Nurse Licensure Examination Result - July 2011 Nurse Board Exam Result

QUICKLINKS : CHAT RULES / PINOYBSN FORUM

No other way

var a = 5; if(a == 0) {document.write('Comments');} else if(a == 1) {document.write('1 comment');}else{document.write(a+' comments');}

PBSN Forum

Search

Previous posts

Archives

Links