- Philippine Nursing Licensure Exam
The Philippine Nursing Licensure Exam is a multiple choice exam to test basic
nursing level competency which considers the objectives of the nursing curriculum, the broad areas of nursing and other related disciplines and competencies. It is held every June and December annually in various public schools throughout the Philippines. Room assignment for the exams are posted outside the Professional Regulation Commission building at least three days before the exam.Legal Basis
Article IV, Section 12 of the Philippine Republic Act No. 9173 states that all applicants for license to practice nursing shall be required to pass a written examination, which shall be given by the Board of Nursing in such places and dates as may be designated by the Commission, provided that it shall be in accordance with Republic Act No. 8981, otherwise known as the PRC Modernization Act of 2000cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Republic Act No. 9173 | date= | publisher= | url =http://elibrary.supremecourt.gov.ph/republic_acts.php?doctype=Republic%20Acts&docid=a45475a11ec72b843d74959b60fd7bd645b6403609c76 | work =Supreme Court E-Library | pages = | accessdate = 2007-06-06 | language = ] .
Qualifications
At the time of filing the application for the examination of nurses, the applicant must:
- Be a citizen of the Philippines, or a citizen or a subject of a country which permits Filipino nurses to practice within its territorial limits on the same basis of the subject or citizen of such country, provided that the requirmeents for the registration or licensing or nursess in said country are substantially the same as those prescribed in this RA 9173.
- Be of good moral character
- Holder of a Bachelor's Degree in Nursing from a college or university that complies with the standards of nursing education duly recognized by the proper government agency.
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 less than seventy-five percent (75%) 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 (75%) in the subjects or subjects repeated.
Coverage
The scope or scope of the examination for the practice of nursing in the Philippines shall be determined by the Board. For the December 2007 examination, the Board of Nursing has released the detailed scope of nursing to the deans of the nursing colleges and universities of the Philippines through the Association of Deans of Philippine Colleges of Nursing (ADPCN).
June 2006 Nursing Licensure Exams Controversy
The controversy stemmed from the complaint of Rachelle Cyndi Ong Erfe, a graduate of Saint Louis University in Baguio City, who testified before a Senate inquiry that she saw other examinees from R.A. Gapuz Review Center reading photocopies during the exam which she later found out the leaked questions from the review center.
Rachelle Cyndi Erfe has since been joined in her complaint by 91 other examinees and 425 intervenors. The controversy triggered a debate whether all the 42,000 examinees retake the licensure test to maintain its integrity and standard. The Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) which administers the nursing exams with the Philippine Board of Nursing (BoN) conducted an investigation and learned that two BoN members were responsible for the leakage. According to one of the two members who were removed for “negligence,” she just inadvertently left copies in a Photocopy shop near the PRC- Manila office where she was photocopying her 500 questions. Others charged that the BoN members were bribed by the review centers to provide them with copies of their questions and answers [cite news | first=Rodel | last=Rodis | coauthors= | title=Nursing Scandal | date=2007-04-07 | publisher= | url =http://www.inquirer.net/specialfeatures/nursingcontroversy/view.php?db=1&article=20070410-59547 | work =The Philippine Daily Inquirer | pages = | accessdate = 2007-06-06 | language = ] . U.S. based media coverage of this scandal was sparse and little follow-up occurred. The test scandal was covered in depth in at least one nursing magazine, the article "A Breach of Integrity" by Geneviève M. Clavreul, RN. Ph.D. was published in November 2006. ["A Breach of Integrity" Clavreul, RN, Ph.D., Geneviève M., Working Nurse Magazine, Nov. 20, 2006]
In order to become eligible for a VisaScreen Certificate, CGFNS has required that a June 2006 passer must first re-take and pass, with a score of 75 percent or better, the “special voluntary examination” covering the subject matter of Tests 3 and 5. Passage of the NCLEX or the CGFNS Examination by any passer of the compromised June 2006 PRC examination will not substitute for the requirement that he or she take the “special voluntary examination” authorized by Executive Order 609 issued by the Philippine Government on
March 12 ,2007 [cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=VisaScreen Frequently Asked Questions | date= | publisher= | url =http://www.cgfns.org/sections/tools/faq/vs.shtml | work =CGFNS International | pages = | accessdate = 2007-06-06 | language = ] .Some 42,000 students sat the nursing examination last year but only about 17,000 passed. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has since ordered all 17,000 to re-take the exams, sparking an uproar from nurses who denied any involvement in wrongdoing [cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Examiners Charged in Philippines Nursing Test Scandal | date=2007-06-01 | publisher=MedIndia | url =http://www.medindia.net/news/Examiners-Charged-in-Philippines-Nursing-Test-Scandal-21553-1.htm | work = | pages = | accessdate = 2007-06-06 | language = ] .
A special review conducted by the Department of Labor and Employment in coordination with Centers of Excellence Nursing Schools provided for voluntary special review classes in preparation to the voluntary retake of the equivalent of Tests III and V of the June 2006 Board of Nursing Examination pursuant to Executive Order No. 609, series of 2007 from March 21 to April 4, 2007. The Special Review refers to the series of classes covering the topics included in Tests III and V of the June 2006 of Nursing Licensure Examination (NLE). This is offered exclusively on a voluntary basis to all nurses licensed under the June 2006 NLE. The voluntary examination will not affect the validity of licenses issued. It is offered merely to enhance employability of successful examinees to qualify for the CGFNS VisaScreen Certificate [cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=DOLE - Special Nursing Review | date= | publisher=Department of Labor and Employment | url =http://www.specialnursingreview.dole.gov.ph/ | work = | pages = | accessdate = 2007-06-06 | language = ] .
FEU-IN's Position Paper on the NLE Leakage
POSITION PAPER ON THE NURSING LEAKAGE
FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY Institute of Nursing
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
“The day we stop living, is the day we keep silent about things that matter.”
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
We, the Dean, Associate Deans, faculty, and students, would like to add our collective voice to the clamor for truth and justice to prevail in the investigation of the leakage issue in the recent Nurse Licensure Examination.
We contend that the results of the examination should not have been released prematurely without all of the questions about the examination’s integrity being answered.
We strongly object to the application of a statistical solution to a problem that is fundamentally moral or ethical in nature. Cheating is cheating, and no amount of statistical justification will correct it. Whether people benefited or not from the leaked questions, is immaterial. The fact is, the Board of Nursing and the Professional Regulations Commission found enough proof of a leakage, therefore, the tests, or at least, Tests III and V, should be invalidated.
We believe that the reasoning behind the use of a statistical treatment to “right” the test is faulty. Statistics used are only as good as the soundness of the thinking behind the use of the statistics. We therefore disagree with the formula used by the Board of Nursing as described in Resolution No. 31, Series of 2006 to compute a score for Test V, because scores obtained in the four tests do not, and cannot, be reflective of competency in Neuro-Psychiatric Nursing, which is the aspect of nursing tested by Test V.
The NLE was designed to test the knowledge and critical thinking aspects of a beginning nurse in four general areas of practice: Community Health Nursing (CHN) (Test I), Maternal and Child Health Nursing (MCN) (Test II), Medical-Surgical Nursing (Tests III and IV), and Neuro-Psychiatric Nursing (Test V). The Test, with its five parts, must necessarily test a representative sample of competencies that a beginning Registered Nurse MUST demonstrate to practice SAFE care that prevents complications and does no harm to the patient.
We have consulted our students, and they have signified their intention to re-take Tests III and V or the entire test, if only to prove that they, indeed deserve to pass. However, our students are calling for the following:
That the questions be
1. objective and answers can be backed by two known references 2. based on a competency framework 3. developed by a new set of examiners
and that the tests be administered 4. at no cost to them 5. with at least 2 months’ notice to enable them to adequately prepare for the examination.
While we recommend the above, we recognize that these solutions are short-term.
We believe, that the more important issue is to find long-term solutions, rather than a quick-fix approach, to assuring the integrity of future nursing board examinations:
First, we call for a review of the screening process for potential Board of Nursing members.
Second, we call for potential members of the Board to be screened for item writing competencies and for the top quality of integrity.
Third, we call for a thoughtful and bias-free method of developing questions, building a data bank of questions, and ensuring that the questions that are asked are: •Objective and appropriately referenced •Not subject to religious or cultural bias
In line with the above, we also suggest that the Board of Nursing release a current list of references that are used as basis for formulating questions and determining the answers to the questions.
Fourth, we ask review centers to put a stop to the practice of requiring their reviewees to memorize questions and share the questions with the review center. We also ask for stricter regulation of review centers and their practices.
Fifth, we call on all nursing students who “passed” the 2006 June NLE to make the ultimate sacrifice for our country. It is now a matter of pride that we redeem ourselves in the best possible and most honorable way. Now is the time to practice the dictum, “Country first, before self.” Let there be no doubt as to the legitimacy of your using the “Registered Nurse” title.
The eyes of the world are upon us. Let us acquit ourselves with honor and dignity.
References
External links
* [http://www.cgfns.org/ Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools]
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