Nursing Licensure Exam Anomaly... Please Read On...

[jvdejesus05]

Friends and fellow UST ALUMNI. Guys, the PRC and BON released the result of june 2006 boards even with the issue of the nursing leakage. We are now fighting for the truth because there are a lot of suspicions especially how they checked and computed the grades. Please let every UST even NON-UST NURSE know about it. We already have the a letter from a congressman that the case is already filed in the congress to further investigate this anomaly. We have also been press releasing statements and position letters to the media. Please help us tell everyone about this injustice. Sometime in the future, we will be needing a signature support from all of you. Attached herewith is an open letter/position letter of the UST College of Nursing regarding the recent board exam.

AN OPEN LETTER TO ALL WHO CARE FOR
THE NURSING PROFESSION IN THE
PHILIPPINES

WE, the administrators, faculty members, alumni
and students of the
University of Santo Tomas College of Nursing,
express our grave
concern over the leakage in the recent Philippine
Nurse Licensure
Examination and the subsequent haste of the
Professional Regulations
Commission in releasing the results without
consulting parties
concerned.

This action raises more doubts not only on the
integrity of our
Licensure Examination but also on the quality of
our country's
nursing graduates. More specifically, this action
tarnishes the
image of all the nursing graduates who took the
Licensure
Examination this year.

We are fully aware that the Professional
Regulations Commission, in
its resolution dated July 12, invalidated the twenty-
five questions
in Test III (Medical Surgical Nursing) as well as all
questions in
Test V (Psychiatric Nursing). The said tests
measure the knowledge
and competence of nursing graduates in two key
subject-areas of the
nursing curriculum: Medical Surgical Nursing and
Psychiatric
Nursing. These subjects are major areas of
competencies of the
profession!

Consequently, the said action of the Commission
appears to ignore
Section 14 of Article VI of Republic Act 9173
quoted herewith:

Scope of Examination: "The scope of examination
for the
practice of nursing in the Philippines shall be
determined by
the Board. The Board shall take into consideration
the objectives
of the nursing curriculum, the broad areas of
nursing, and other
related disciplines and competencies in
determining the subjects
of examination"

Since their competencies in the aforementioned
areas were not
considered, examinees who have "passed" the
June 2006 Philippine
Nurse Licensure Examination have not necessarily
proven their
ability to provide safe and quality care to their
future patients.
Their competence is under a cloud of doubt. The
Supreme Court of the
Philippines ruled in DECS vs. San Diego, and
echoed in a number of
subsequent decisions that it is the duty of the
State "to insure
that the medical profession is not infiltrated by
incompetents to
whom patients may unwarily entrust their lives and
health." Will the
government allow the risking of patients' life and
limb under the
care of nurses with doubtful competence?

In addition, we have received information from our
graduates that
despite the pronouncement of the Professional
Regulations Commission
that Test V was invalidated, they were given a
score in the said
test. This action is a direct violation of Section 15,
Article 2 of
RA 9173:

Ratings. � In order to pass the examination, an
examinee must obtain
a general average of at least seventy-five percent
(75%) with a
rating of not below sixty percent (60%) in any
subject. An examinee
who obtains an average rating of seventy-five (75%)
or higher but
gets a rating below sixty percent (60%) in any
subject, must take
the examination again but only in the subject or
subjects where
he/she is rated below sixty percent (60%). In order
to pass the
succeeding examination, an examinee must obtain
a rating of at least
seventy-five percent (75%) in the subject or
subjects repeated.

Moreover, in Test III, there is no absolute certainty
whether only
25 questions were indeed leaked out. How did the
investigating body
come to the conclusion that these were the only
items leaked out?
Hence, to free it from allegation of arbitrariness it
is
incumbent
on the Professional Regulations Commission to
explain to the public
the basis of computation of grades of the
examinees.

Certainly,
Truth and Justice demand that a more credible and
reasonable
explanation be given to all concerned sectors.

In view of the above observations, we CALL ON
THE PROFESSIONAL
REGULATIONS COMMISSION TO SUSPEND
THE SCHEDULED OATH TAKING WHILE
THE RESULTS OF A FULL-SCALE AND
INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION ARE STILL
PENDING.

WE CALL ON THE PROFESSIONAL
REGULATIONS COMMISSION AND THE BOARD
OF
NURSING TO IMMEDIATELY RESOLVE THE
ISSUES RAISED ABOVE.

We assure concerned parents and candidates for
licensure that we do
not wish to prolong your inconvenience and
anxiety. We are all
victims of a decision of the Professional
Regulations Commission
that clouds, rather than sheds light, on this
disgraceful incident
that happened in the recent June 2006 board
examination. Rather, we
seek to welcome you as new nurses in the
profession in a process
that is free from mockery and suspicion.

SUSAN N. MARAVILLA THELMA ABELARDO
Assistant Dean Treasurer, UST Nursing Alumni
Association

RENE M. TADLE ALFREDO PAYAWAN
President, Faculty Association of the PRO,
Nursing Student
Council
College of Nursing, UST

WE ARE FOR CLEAR AND HONEST
LICENSURE EXAMINATIONS!

[j_avonni]

17,821 out of 42,006 passed or 42.42%. Ano ba ang ratio last year?

[swordsman]

17,821 out of 42,006 passed or 42.42%. Ano ba ang ratio last year?

may alledged leakage pa yan ha. oo nga, ano ba yong historical ratio nung mga years na walang anomaly?

though di ko alam yong issue on "how they checked and computed the grades", so in this 2006 anomaly, ang position ba ng UST College of Nursing ay dapat ba ulitin yong exam?

[GlennSter]

ito pala ang sinasabi ng pinsan kong kaka graduate ng nursing.....sana maayos ang gulo...

[CaMoTe!!!]

bakit daw kumibo ang ust??? bumaba ba ang passing rate nila???

[GlennSter]

pano nga pala ang test jan?yung i shade yung bilog ng correct answer?

[Karding]

pano nga pala ang test jan?yung i shade yung bilog ng correct answer?

ang alam ko thumb na may laway ang gamit sa ganyang eksaminasyon.

[swordsman]

bakit daw kumibo ang ust??? bumaba ba ang passing rate nila???

wala yata ang UST sa Top 5 schools and sa Top 5 individual board passers, according to the PRC.

[CaMoTe!!!]

wala yata ang UST sa Top 5 schools and sa Top 5 individual board passers, according to the PRC.

hmm... baka nga siguro kaya sila kumibo... yung sis ko nag take din, galing siya uste, pero di ko pa natatanong sa kaniya kung nag place ang ust... sabi niya at ng mga friends niya, mas gusto na lang daw nila mag retake ulit kesa daw put into question ang competence nila...

last year ata di din 100% passing rate ng ust e...

[mazdamazda]

eto ang mga top schools according to passing rate:

with 100 or more examinees.

1. SLU & Western Visayas State U - 95%
2. Cebu Doctor's University - 92%
3. UERM - 89%
4. Cebu Normal University & Saint Paul Iloilo - 88%

with 30-99 examinees:

1. UP Manila - 100%
2. PCU - 97%

in comparison, UST got only 83%.

[GlennSter]

go uerm!!hihihi..sorry ot

[BlueGirl]

kaya siguro nagrereklamo ust..lamo ko usually 99% passing sila..prang yung med boards ganon din..

[CaMoTe!!!]

dami bumagsak sa uste ngayon ah... 83% lang??? hmmm... to think na dati nagwa-100% pa sila... kaya pala kabado yung kapatid ko na baka siya sumabit... buti na lang pumasa... (pero walang leakage ha ;p)

to think na while trying to give her confidence and moral support while waiting for the results, sabi ko pa sa kaniya "ano ka ba, yun pa lang fact na galing ka ng ust dapat confident ka na na papasa ka e... " hehehehe....

mga kuya nga naman...

[BlueGirl]

IMO, malamang hindi lang yan ang licensure exam na meron leakage or may possibility na lahat ng exams meron..wat if yung mga examiner na gumagawa ng mga questions may kamag-anak na mag exam..cympre malalaman narin kung ano lalabas..one way or another leakage din un diba?

[j_avonni]

eto ang mga top schools according to passing rate:

with 100 or more examinees.

1. SLU & Western Visayas State U - 95%
2. Cebu Doctor's University - 92%
3. UERM - 89%
4. Cebu Normal University & Saint Paul Iloilo - 88%

with 30-99 examinees:

1. UP Manila - 100%
2. PCU - 97%

in comparison, UST got only 83%.

UST's 83% is 312 out of 374. UP's 100% is 46 out of 46.

[morrissey_05]

the passing rate this year is just about near the passing rates for the other years.

something ive been thinking about: SLU scored high in the last exams. E di ba sabi daw the leakage came from a Baguio branch of a certain review center?

ang sabi ng PRC, they found a way to negate the alleged leak in Test III and Test V para patas DAW lahat.

i dont think UST is sourgraping naman, just bec their passing rate is low this year. if i were a nursing student, whether from UST or not, i would be concerned with the leakage. in short, i would prefer a retake than to put my passing grade into question.

[j_avonni]

Retake? I wouldn't agree to this, especially if I passed and I knew I didn't cheat. If I flunked, well, maybe yes. I would take the next exam anyway.

[niky]

It's near impossible to force a retake for that many students, but the leakage is a serious issue.

And I don't believe UST is sourgraping, merely asking for justice. They were once penalized for alleged (and unproven) cheating on a related board exam, I think they're pissed that someone's getting away with it this time.

The technical panel on Nursing has also resigned over this (not that we're complaining much about that particular result).

The worst effect of this is to bring the reliability and validity of our Nursing exam into question. If the US and other foreign markets start seeing our licensure as invalid, this will severely hurt our nursing export industry. That's probably the biggest reason for this protest.

[nicolodeon]

Oh well, such is the cycle ata for licensure exams sa Pilipinas. This has been going on for years, if not decades. Nung late 90s, some med students from Fatima College of Medicine got most of the top 15 spots sa board exams. Since ang UP at ang UST eh laging may consistent placer sa top 15, nagreklamo sila - lalo na ang mga taga UP.

Dami ng ganyan decades past. Panahon pa ni Marcos, issue na yan. Kaya nga karamihan ng firms sa US at sa Europe eh hindi bilib sa resulta ng licensure exams natin - kaya kailanga re-take ang mga professionas pag-dating dun.

[cutedoc]

whether you leak it or not, nasty humors will always surface, if there be any truth to this, students would protest, then govt will amend, reconsider etc...

thats how it is with the phils, anything goes... be it bad or good...

to all those who really pass the exam, may they be successful(i have friends who took it and passed) and for those who cheated, say 10 our father, 10 hail mary and glory be, then check if God forgave you=)