Fewer nurses seeking jobs in US

The number of Filipinos who sought to enter America’s nursing profession plunged by 26 percent in 2009, according to the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines.

The labor group’s secretary general Ernesto Herrera noted a 5,364 drop in the number of Filipino nurses who took the National Council Licensure Examinations for the first time from January to December 2009.

Passing the NCLEX is required for foreign nurses to practice their profession in the United States.

Herrera said 20,746 Filipino nurses took the US test in 2008 compared to the 15,382 last year.

Compared to the record number of 21,299 Filipino nurses that took the NCLEX for the first time (that is, excluding repeaters) in 2007, Herrera said the 2009 figures came as a 28 percent decline.

TUCP’s disclosure came shortly after the Philippines’ Professional Regulation Commission announced the results of the November 2009 eligibility examinations for nurses.

Only 37,527 or less than 40 percent of the 94,462 nursing graduates that took the licensure test passed—the poorest performance since 2000.

To make Filipino nurses more competitive in foreign labor markets, Herrera pushed for:

• The immediate shutdown of 152 nursing schools previously classified as “substandard” by the Commission on Higher Education;

• The annual rating of the remaining 308 nursing colleges (net of the 152 to be closed down), based on the performance of their graduates in the local licensure examinations over the last five years, and the yearly publication of the rating of every college so that buyers of nursing education may be guided accordingly;

• The provision of free intensive second foreign language training, via the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, to nursing graduates seeking employment in non-English speaking countries such as Japan and the Middle East; and

• The strengthening of the capabilities of all state-owned hospitals, whether run by the Department of Health or by local governments, to provide superior clinical training to junior and senior nursing students.

On account of the overwhelming number of Filipino nursing students, Herrera lamented that many of them are not getting adequate clinical training or “related learning experience” in hospitals.

“Hospitals can no longer accommodate all our nursing students. There are just too many of them waiting in line to observe procedures,” Herrera said.

Meanwhile, the Health Alliance for Democracy, a national organization of doctors, nurses and allied services, has called for sweeping reforms in health sciences education in the wake of the lowest passing rate ever registered in the history of the Philippine licensure examination for nurses.

Group secretary general Dr. Geneve Rivera noted that the dismal performance in the latest nursing exams should serve as a wake-up call, especially for government regulatory agencies.

Rivera said nursing students are being short-changed by schools that do not offer quality education but want to exploit the current demand.

The number of nursing schools has mushroomed from 251 in June 2003 to 471 today, although many of these are of dubious credentials, Rivera said.

With the rising number of nursing students the demand became greater for review centers, which is another facet of the growing nursing industry.

“Unfortunately, despite the review centers, the passing rate has continued to drop and more than 40% of examinees have taken the board exams twice,” Rivera said. –Macon Araneta, Manila Standard Today