Nurses’ oath-taking stopped

By Christian V. Esguerra, Michael Lim Ubac
Inquirer
Last updated 05:39am (Mla time) 07/29/2006

THE Professional Regulation Commission has decided to postpone indefinitely the Aug. 22 oath-taking of new nurses as it deals with lingering controversy over the integrity of the last nursing licensure examinations.

Eufemia Octaviano, the head of the PRC’s Board of Nursing, said the postponement would allow the PRC to engage in a comprehensive dialogue with the deans of nursing colleges around the country.

The academics have been insistent that the PRC resolve the question of the alleged leakage in the June nursing licensure exams before swearing in the successful examinees.
A meeting with the nursing deans has been set for Aug. 15 at the PRC office in Sampaloc, Manila.

House probe

In Congress, Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay yesterday asked the House committee on good government to conduct an immediate inquiry into the nursing exam leakage.

Pichay said the extent of the controversy reached “far and wide, even placing in an untenable footing the chances of the country’s medical practitioners in the global workforce.”

He said the nursing exam fiasco was the last thing that the country needed.

“Now that we have great demand for nurses abroad, let’s not spoil the situation by casting doubt on the quality of nursing graduates in the country,” said Pichay, the vice chair of the Commission on Appointments.

“We have been banking on our medical practitioners to be one of our greatest assets in competing in the global market, but the issue now casts doubts on their very competency,” he said.

Pichay said the reported leakage, which the PRC had confirmed, put into question not just the integrity of the PRC and Board of Nursing but “also the essential text of the genuineness of our nursing profession’s competency and accordingly, the quality of health care given to our people.”
The House probe will look into the alleged involvement of two Board of Nursing officials and the Gapuz Review Center which has various branches nationwide.

“We should determine whether concerned government officials were guilty of misfeasance or malfeasance,” said Pichay.

The congressman said the inquiry could lead to a thorough review of relevant national laws, including the Nursing Act of 2002 and the PRC Modernization Act of 2000.

“Poor health is injurious to a nation aspiring and working for progress, hence the urgent need to underscore the high competency of the medical workers delivering these services,” he said.
The decision to defer the oath-taking came after an hour-long meeting last Thursday with the nursing deans of the University of the Philippines, University of the East and the University of Santo Tomas.

Lingering doubt

Also present at the meeting were two UP faculty members, three PRC commissioners, four Board of Nursing members, and Dr. Marilyn Lorenzo, director of the Institute of Health Policy and Development Studies of the UP-Manila National Institutes of Health.

Octaviano said the deans “unanimously” asked for the postponement because of what they said were lingering questions over the integrity of the June exams.