Nursing Test Scam Linked to Poor Education, Labor Export
Top nursing educators and former CHED authorities say that the recent nursing board exam leakage is just the tip of a bigger problem – the deterioration in the country’s nursing education and government’s export of nurses abroad.
By Arthur L. Allad-iw
Northern Dispatch / Bulatlat
BAGUIO CITY – “Why blame us on the mess attributable to few persons, particularly the two members of the Board of Nursing (BON),” said one of the Nursing Board exam passers who was among the complainants on a case against those involved in the recent board leakage scam filed at the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) in Manila.
Addressing thousands of professional nurses and nursing students to the main issue where those involved in the scam must be investigated and punished, Vernon Peralta, who passed the board exams for nurses June this year, emotionally said in a forum on August 11 that board examinees should not be made as sacrificial lambs for the mess as the wrong was committed not by them.
Dr. Fe Marilyn Lorenzo and Prof. Cora Anonuevo, both from the College of Nursing of the University of the Philippines in Manila, told the fully-packed forum that they had been calling for the resignations of the members of the BON to pave the way for the investigation. The move was also to cleanse the agency that prepares and administers the board exam for nursing.
Held at the Easter College gymnasium here, the forum was attended by at least 2,000 nursing professionals and students from different schools in Baguio, Cordillera, Pangasinan, La Union and Ilocos. The forum entitled: “Quo Vadis Philippine Nursing?” tackled the burning issues on leakage scam and the public health care system.
Ninety-two examinees in this city filed the case in the PRC. The case was backed by more than 400 PNA members.
Punish two BON members
Northern Dispatch (Nordis) learned from the nurses leaders that the two BON members allegedly involved in the scam as the Sets III and V of the examinations were traced from them were Anecia Dionisio and Virginia Madeja. They were allegedly stopped from performing their functions but are not suspended that would have prevented them from using their positions to influence the on-going investigation.
Nursing professionals said that the PRC task force which is conducting an investigation tends to exonerate the two members of the BON and their cohorts in the leakage scam considered to the worst on the history of Philippine licensure examination.
“The BON members filed their courtesy resignations on July 21, 24 and 26 but the PRC rejected it,” added Anonuevo who saluted the 92 Baguio complainants for their courage in exposing the alleged leakage.
PNA, the Associations of Deans in the Cordillera, and the examinees hit the PRC for not forming an independent fact-finding body to investigate the scam and their move which tends to exonerate those involved in the scam.
The PRC has denied any scam but backtracked from their statement when more leaked questions were revealed even in Metro Manila.
Symptom of worst health care
Both Lorenzo and Anonuevo said that the scam is a symptom of the present crisis in the country’s health care system.
Lorenzo observed that the quality of the nurses’ graduates has declined as the passing rate slowly goes down – from 54 % in 2004 to the present 42%. She said that while the number of nursing schools has doubled to 400 many of these are not performing well. These schools produce poor graduates and do anything including leakage just to evade the closure of their profitable nursing schools.
Lorenzo, who teaches at the University of the Philippines’ College of Nursing in Manila, resigned as member of the technical group of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) monitoring nursing schools over Malacanang’s failure to adopt recommendations to improve the nursing and health care system.
Among the CHED’s technical group’s recommendations is to produce quality nursing graduates that caters to the needs of the country rather than going abroad. Six out of 10 nurses leave the country every year, she said, causing the delay on specialized procedures. In this case, she said they need to develop nurses on the specialized cases which derail the fast delivery of health care services.
Service to the needy
Dr. Ana Marie Leung reacted on the problems confronting the health care system raising the call to re-orient nursing education to the original call of service to the most needy. Leung, a UP Manila graduate, is the director of the Community Health Education, Services and Training in the Cordillera Region (CHESTCORE), has for decades been rendering health services to far-flung communities in the region and Ilocos.
Supporting the move for an independent fact finding body on the leakage, Leung agreed that the health care system in the Philippines must adopt changes particularly on addressing the health needs of the people.
“Instead of strengthening the public health care system, the government promotes a labor export policy which includes our nurses. An estimated 85% (about 150,000) of employed Filipino nurses are working abroad. The 50,000 nurses who left in the past four years have far exceeded the graduates of 20,000 during that same period. It is even estimated that 80% of public health physicians have taken up or enrolled in nursing,” Leung said.
Leung hit the government and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration saying they are more concerned about the effects of this nursing board examination scam on the reputation of the graduates abroad, including the Philippine bid to have a local National Council Licensure Examination for Nurses (NCLEX) for them to work in the United States.
Seeking to get the reactions from the health sector, including students on how they will address the leakage scam, the forum was organized by the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) chapters in Baguio and the Cordillera and the Cordillera Associations of Deans of the Philippines Colleges of Nursing. Nordis / Bulatlat
From BULATLAT
http://www.bulatlat.com/news/6-27/6-27-scam.htm
By Arthur L. Allad-iw
Northern Dispatch / Bulatlat
BAGUIO CITY – “Why blame us on the mess attributable to few persons, particularly the two members of the Board of Nursing (BON),” said one of the Nursing Board exam passers who was among the complainants on a case against those involved in the recent board leakage scam filed at the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) in Manila.
Addressing thousands of professional nurses and nursing students to the main issue where those involved in the scam must be investigated and punished, Vernon Peralta, who passed the board exams for nurses June this year, emotionally said in a forum on August 11 that board examinees should not be made as sacrificial lambs for the mess as the wrong was committed not by them.
Dr. Fe Marilyn Lorenzo and Prof. Cora Anonuevo, both from the College of Nursing of the University of the Philippines in Manila, told the fully-packed forum that they had been calling for the resignations of the members of the BON to pave the way for the investigation. The move was also to cleanse the agency that prepares and administers the board exam for nursing.
Held at the Easter College gymnasium here, the forum was attended by at least 2,000 nursing professionals and students from different schools in Baguio, Cordillera, Pangasinan, La Union and Ilocos. The forum entitled: “Quo Vadis Philippine Nursing?” tackled the burning issues on leakage scam and the public health care system.
Ninety-two examinees in this city filed the case in the PRC. The case was backed by more than 400 PNA members.
Punish two BON members
Northern Dispatch (Nordis) learned from the nurses leaders that the two BON members allegedly involved in the scam as the Sets III and V of the examinations were traced from them were Anecia Dionisio and Virginia Madeja. They were allegedly stopped from performing their functions but are not suspended that would have prevented them from using their positions to influence the on-going investigation.
Nursing professionals said that the PRC task force which is conducting an investigation tends to exonerate the two members of the BON and their cohorts in the leakage scam considered to the worst on the history of Philippine licensure examination.
“The BON members filed their courtesy resignations on July 21, 24 and 26 but the PRC rejected it,” added Anonuevo who saluted the 92 Baguio complainants for their courage in exposing the alleged leakage.
PNA, the Associations of Deans in the Cordillera, and the examinees hit the PRC for not forming an independent fact-finding body to investigate the scam and their move which tends to exonerate those involved in the scam.
The PRC has denied any scam but backtracked from their statement when more leaked questions were revealed even in Metro Manila.
Symptom of worst health care
Both Lorenzo and Anonuevo said that the scam is a symptom of the present crisis in the country’s health care system.
Lorenzo observed that the quality of the nurses’ graduates has declined as the passing rate slowly goes down – from 54 % in 2004 to the present 42%. She said that while the number of nursing schools has doubled to 400 many of these are not performing well. These schools produce poor graduates and do anything including leakage just to evade the closure of their profitable nursing schools.
Lorenzo, who teaches at the University of the Philippines’ College of Nursing in Manila, resigned as member of the technical group of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) monitoring nursing schools over Malacanang’s failure to adopt recommendations to improve the nursing and health care system.
Among the CHED’s technical group’s recommendations is to produce quality nursing graduates that caters to the needs of the country rather than going abroad. Six out of 10 nurses leave the country every year, she said, causing the delay on specialized procedures. In this case, she said they need to develop nurses on the specialized cases which derail the fast delivery of health care services.
Service to the needy
Dr. Ana Marie Leung reacted on the problems confronting the health care system raising the call to re-orient nursing education to the original call of service to the most needy. Leung, a UP Manila graduate, is the director of the Community Health Education, Services and Training in the Cordillera Region (CHESTCORE), has for decades been rendering health services to far-flung communities in the region and Ilocos.
Supporting the move for an independent fact finding body on the leakage, Leung agreed that the health care system in the Philippines must adopt changes particularly on addressing the health needs of the people.
“Instead of strengthening the public health care system, the government promotes a labor export policy which includes our nurses. An estimated 85% (about 150,000) of employed Filipino nurses are working abroad. The 50,000 nurses who left in the past four years have far exceeded the graduates of 20,000 during that same period. It is even estimated that 80% of public health physicians have taken up or enrolled in nursing,” Leung said.
Leung hit the government and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration saying they are more concerned about the effects of this nursing board examination scam on the reputation of the graduates abroad, including the Philippine bid to have a local National Council Licensure Examination for Nurses (NCLEX) for them to work in the United States.
Seeking to get the reactions from the health sector, including students on how they will address the leakage scam, the forum was organized by the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) chapters in Baguio and the Cordillera and the Cordillera Associations of Deans of the Philippines Colleges of Nursing. Nordis / Bulatlat
From BULATLAT
http://www.bulatlat.com/news/6-27/6-27-scam.htm
