By Mayen Jaymalin Updated November 17, 2008 12:00 AM
Half of nursing graduates flunk the nursing licensure examination every year, according to the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).
Marco Sto. Tomas, PRC Board of Nursing member, said the passing rate in the nursing licensure examination has been on the decline in the past decade.
“The number of board examinees is on the rise since year 2000, but the passing rate exhibited a declining trend from a high of 55.8 percent in 1998 to a low of 45.2 percent in 2006 or an annual average of 49.5 percent,” he said.
Sto. Tomas said the PRC has recorded a total of 224,961 nursing board flunkers from 1998 to June 2008.
“One out of every five nursing schools registers a zero passing mark, which is indicative of the questionable quality of education and/or decreasing quality of students admitted for the nursing profession,” he said.
In June 2008, the passing rate 43.1 percent was lower than the average registered for the period 1998-2007, he added.
Sto. Tomas said based on government figures, the country has 480,992 licensed nurses out of the 523,272 who passed the nursing board examination between 1952 and the present.
“Not because they were not employed in hospitals, they are already jobless because many registered nurses are opting to work in other companies like call centers,” he said.
Actually, there is a surplus of nurses because of a market slowdown since 2006 due mainly to the retrogression in the United States, he added.
Sto. Tomas said enrollees in nursing schools have ballooned from 27,833 in academic year 2000-2001 to a record high of 453,896 in academic year 2006-2007, or an annual average growth rate of 62 percent.
“The number of graduates exhibited an increasing trend for the period 2000–2005, with 140.5 percent increase in the number of graduates in SY 2004–2005,” he said.
Sto. Tomas said the country’s health care delivery system is not experiencing a vacuum even if more experienced nurses go abroad. “Most nurses locally employed are new graduates who lack experience and skills which poses serious implications on the quality of health care provided our own countrymen,” he said.
Source:
_
Many factors could have affected the yearly passing rate of those who take the nursing exam. The exam is always revised to keep up with global standards. It could be one of the factors that affects the passing rate. This should be alarming to the nursing schools in our country. It is the trend to put up a nursing school nowadays due to the continuing influx of aspirants. Nursing schools should always maintain a respectable passing rate for their students to boost their credibility. Revisions in the curriculum is a must for the Filipino nurses to be competitive in the global market. Even though our nurses can be compared to the nurses from all around the world, it does not mean they have to seek opportunities elsewhere. It is always human nature to seek greener pastures and to be successful. Benefits and security programs should be developed to compensate for portion of the high salary abroad. In this case, the nurse would be given a to be with his family and be able to serve his countrymen. Hats off to the nurses who have the chance to work abroad, but decides to stay and shares his talents and capabilities to server the Filipino and for the betterment of the country.
11 comments:
i knew that many Filipino nurses send abroad to State and other growth countries. i think it happens due to diffrent pay salary. but my opinion is diffrent. i stongly agree that being happy with a job should come before the benefit of a high salary, since people who find pleasure in their work are happier and do better than people who only money. but i know this is impossible now in situation.
It is sad to hear the the nurses in our country are failures. It is true that the biggest export product of our country are laborers but this is bad for our country in the long run. The services in medical field offered in the Philippines will decrease and it is evident in the failure rate of nurses during the exams.
A lot of Filipinos take up nursing because of the opportunity to go abroad. Because of this demand a lot of schools here in the country are now offering nursing courses, even though they are not that credible to teach nursing. Maybe the schools should be reevaluated to ensure the passing rate in the nursing board. It just saddens me that 1/2 of the nurses who took the exam didn't passed, it makes you feel that the education that is implemented in the country isn't that effective and can't come up with an excellent outcome.
It is sad to hear that half of the nurses in the Philippines did not pass. As many students failed in the exam, the education system in nursing should improve.
Some students study nursing for them to go abroad only for high salaries and good nursing system. As a result, there is also increasing nursing applicants.
Because of the high working salary, the laborers in the Philippines opt to work in other countries so that they can support their families. Knowing this desire of people to work as a nurse in other countries (specifically in the United States), colleges big and small are now offering nursing as one of their courses despite the lack of facilities and expertise. They disregard the quality of education they are giving their students.
Even though the education that these schools give aren't enough, the students should also do their part in not relying on their stock knowledge alone. It really is an effort that need to be exerted by both sides.
I am familiar about this because most of my cousins are pursuing nursing and some of them failed the exams. So we question the nursing education in our country. Is it credible? Is it world class? There have been different issues like this and one is example is in the desperate housewives episode where the Filipino medicine industry was humiliated and now we see the news of nurse aspirants failing their exam. Someone ought to do something about this.
Indeed this is not a good thing to hear. But we can't really blame anyone for these nursing board exam failures. We can only blame the poverty that is still overshadowing our nation. It is the main culprit for this situation. If it's not for poverty, then there will be no low-quality nursing schools appearing here and there, there will no parents forcing their children to take up nursing in college, and there will be no urge for Filipinos to leave the country and seek for "greener pastures" abroad.
I guess, the key here is to fight poverty so that in the future none of this will happen. But then again, there is still that question of- how? how are we going to do it?
Nursing nowadays is a course which a lot of people enroll because nurses are being recruited by different countries and I am not surprised if a lot of students fail in this course because the government just want to produce highly educated nurses. Maybe that is one reason why they made the exams more difficult.
i suggest that they must be more focused. If nursing is not what they really like then shift to other course.
I can't help but think that the nursing students fail because of the education system in the Philippines. I mean it's evident because of the ratio. Then there was a leakage scandal too.
it's sad to know that most of the nurses are failing i guess this is just proof that most of them were either forced to take up the course or either take the course just to get out of the country. people or students should take a course that interest them, something they can see their selves succeed in, in the future. aren't the children our future? and if they don't take courses they love and courses they know they will succeed in they what will become of the future leaders? people should believe in the power of their dreams and in having the passion to do what you love because your dreams can take you anywhere! :)
Post a Comment