‘Scandal must be resolved soon’

By Lourdes Jacinto
Inquirer
Last updated 06:38am (Mla time) 08/27/2006

Published on page A12 of the August 27, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

HOSPITAL officials have notdiscussed the “remote possibility” of discriminating against the board passers of the June exams, despite SLU’s involvement in exposing the cheating in Baguio City.

[Mary Grace Lacanaria, SLU nursing school dean, had been one of the key people who exposed cheating during the June 11 and 12 licensure exams for nurses.]

The SLU hospital relies on graduates of the SLU School of Nursing for its staff requirements. SLU has been consistently among the top nursing schools in the country because almost all of its graduates pass the annual board examinations.

The scandal should not affect SLU’s process of hiring new nurses because applicants are still required to undergo a battery of tests before they are admitted into the hospital.

But the scandal must be resolved soon. Although SLU does not see any long-term damage to the nursing profession, it might affect the operations of other nursing schools.

There are too many nursing schools and one can’t help but worry that even computer schools nowadays offer nursing courses. Interview by Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon

(Lourdes Jacinto is Administrator of the Saint Louis University Hospital of the Sacred Heart in Baguio City)