39,455 pass nursing board exam

MANILA, Philippines - Some 39,455 nursing examinees passed the November 2008 Nursing Board Exam in 2008, with a nursing hopeful from Baguio City topping the highly anticipated list.

A radio report quoted the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) as saying the latest results showed that the passing rate was 44.51 percent of the 88,649 examinees.

The PRC said the exam’s topnotcher is Jovie Ann Alawas Decoyna of the Baguio Central University (BCU), who got a score of 89 percent.
She is joined by 72 other passers – most with tied scores – who were able to squeeze in to the Top 10.

While BCU produced this year’s topnotcher, Saint Paul University in Iloilo, the University of Saint Louis in Tuguegarao, Cagayan and the Foundation University were No. 1 in the passing rate, with all of their examinees passing.

Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro came next with a passing rate of 99 percent, with 336 of 341 students hurdling the test.

The November 29-30, 2008 examination was administered in 12 areas nationwide, including Manila, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu City, Davao City, Iloilo City, Legazpi, Lucena, Tacloban, Tuguegarao, Sulu, and Zamboanga City.

The Board of Nursing is composed of its chairman Carmencita Abaquin, and members Leonila Faire, Betty Merritt, Perla Po, Marco Antonio Sto.Tomas, Yolanda Arugay, and Amelia B. Rosales.


Requirements

Board passers are required to bring the following: duly accomplished Oath Form, a cedula, two (2) pieces passport size picture, one (1) piece 1"x1" picture, two sets of metered documentary stamps, and one short brown envelope with name and profession.

Passers also need to pay a P600 initial registration fee and a P450 annual registration fee. They are also required to personally register and sign in the Roster of Registered Professionals.

Oath-taking ceremonies for Manila examinees and those who have not previously taken their oaths will be held at the SMX Convention Center in SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City on April 6 and 7 (Monday and Tuesday).

Passers must come in their proper oath-taking attire.

Oath-taking tickets for Metro Manila and neighboring provinces will be available at the Philippine Nurses Association office along 1663 F. T. Benitez Street in Manila’s Malate district, starting March 2.

Meanwhile, the schedule for oath-taking on other regions will be posted on the Board of Nursing website (www.bonphilippines.org).


Looking Back

In June 2008's nursing exam, 27,765 out of 64,459 passed, or 43.1 percent of the more than who took the test.

At that time, a University of Santo Tomas graduate topped the list of passers with an 86-percent score.

The Nursing Licensure Exam, like a few other licensure exams in the country, has had its own share of controversies, the most-talked about being the one conducted in 2006.

The alleged leakage incident that year prompted the PRC to form an independent fact-finding committee that recommended a retake of the exam.

Although Friday's results has just elevated almost 40,000 students into being a registered nurse, the government is still concerned they would be an addition to the current pool of nurses that might find difficulty securing jobs abroad.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) last Wednesday urged nursing schools to device ways on how to produce an even more competent set of graduates.

The POEA said that more stringent screening and an intensified training could help Filipino nurses hurdle the now stricter standards being observed by nurse-importing countries like New Zealand. - GMANews.TV



Here's the link to the complete list of successful examinees.