Re-take of June 2006 Exam Scheduled on June 11th

The Nursing Licensure Exam for June 2007 will be held on the 10^th and 11^th of June. The exam will be conducted to accommodate both the new takers and the re-takers. The re-takers of the exam are either one of the 1,687 examinees ordered by the Court of Appeals to re-take the exam; those who are voluntarily re-taking the test parts 3 and 5 for the purpose of meeting the requirement for VisaScreen Certificate set by the CGFNS; those who are opting to voluntarily re-take the entire exam by surrendering their current license; or those who previously failed the exam.

The government will be subsidizing the cost of the exam for those ordered by the Court of Appeals to re-take and those who are re-taking for the purpose of VisaScreen eligibility.

As per the CGFNS ruling on the June 2006 re-takers, they can only re-take the test parts 3 and 5 once during either the June or December 2007 examinations. If they fail upon their re-take and still want to obtain VisaScreen eligibility, they have an option to re-take the entire exam on the following examination schedule by surrendering their current license.

The re-takers of the controversial June 2006 exam will be allowed to sit in the exam for test parts 3 and 5 on the second day.

Voluntary Re-Examination for the June 2006 Nursing Board Exam Passers

Pursuant to the CGFNS decision of denying the VisaScreen Certification to the June 2006 Nursing Licensure Board Examination, President Arroyo signed the Executive Order No. 609 which will allow the affected nurses to re-take the test parts 3 and 5 of the examination.  The special examination will be conducted along with the regular board examination in June and December of this year.  The re-taker may only choose from either of the examination dates, and must pass the exam to qualify for the VisaScreen Certificate.  The government will subsidize the cost of the examination and designate free review classes to the nurses who will take the special examination.  The same procedure will be followed in registering for the exam as before. Re-taking the examination will not affect the status of the nurses in the Philippines and their license will remain valid irregardless of the exam result.  The government also orders that the results of the examination shall be forwarded directly to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and not to the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).  The DOLE secretary and the Board of Nursing Chair are the authorized personnels to undertake the public release of the names of those who passed the examination, notify the examinees individually of the result of their exam, and furnish the official results of the examination to the CGFNS.  All these will be closely monitored to satisfy the requirement of the CGFNS, and to address the problem of our fellow nurses with their ineligibility to work in the US. 

Re-take: Pass or Fail only

Many of the June 2006 board exam passers are confused about the information they are getting from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) regarding the re-take and CGFNS VisaScreen Certification.  First of all, the CGFNS is a non-profit, internationally recognized authority on credentials evaluation and verification pertaining to the education, registration and licensure of nurses and health care professionals worldwide.  They process credentials evaluation, provide CGFNS exam, and is responsible for the visa screening process.

The CGFNS exam measures the potential of the foreign nurse to pass the NCLEX exam, and is required by the majority of the State Boards of Nursing in the US.  Passing the CGFNS and/or NCLEX exams do not qualify a foreign nurse to obtain an immigrant status without the VisaScreen Certificate issued by the CGFNS.  To be eligible for the VisaScreen Certificate, one must successfully meet the CGFNS credentials evaluation and pass the CGFNS exam. 

In February, the CGFNS announced the ineligibility of the June 2006 board exam passers from the VisaScreen Certificate until they passed the test parts 3 and 5 of the exam.  Many of the 17,000 board passers are confused as to the qualifications for the VisaScreen Certificate.  The VisaScreen Certificate is a requirement of US immigration law to be eligible for an immigrant visa.  This requires a comparable standard of practice in the nursing profession.  One must have acquired a Bachelor's degree in Nursing and a licensure or registration as a first-entry level nurse to become eligible for the VisaScreen Certificate.

The June 2006 board passers are only required to re-take the test parts 3 and 5 of the exam as provided in Executive Order 609, which is a special voluntary examination to be given in June and December 2007.  They are only allowed to re-take the exam once either in June or December 2007.  The test parts 3 and 5 must be successfully passed with a score of at least 75 each.  There is no additional re-take if you fail the exam.  If you still want to become eligible for the VisaScreen Certificate, you can risk to surrender your license to be able to take another full exam and hope you pass it all this time. 

The American Nurses Association (ANA) has agreed with the CGFNS position to take the June 2006 board exam passers in the US if they passed the test parts 3 and 5, without having to re-take the full exam.

American Nurses Association denounces the June 2006 Philippine Board Exam

The Philippine Regulatory Commissions (PRC) is facing a problem that they, themselves, created.  It seems now that they must do what they should have done originally.  It's a shame that US immigration law has to dictate to them before they are able to implement the right measures. 

Let us review briefly the chain of events. On June 11 and 12, 2006, 17,000 Filipino Nurses were spared from the leakage allegations and passed the exams.  The same week the exam was given, the leakage issue was publicized.  Despite the controversy, the PRC decided to release the exam results following the curative measure they implemented on the compromised parts of the exam.  Many were sworn to their profession even before the PRC has to announce whether there will be an oath-taking.  The Court of Appeals then ordered to hold the oath-taking until the investigation was finished.  After the Court of Appeals finished the investigation, with the help of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), they came up with a resolution that only 1,200 of the board passers will retake the test parts 3 and 5.  These 1,200 examinees were believed to be affected by the curative measure based on the PRC's judgment.

Obviously, the PRC did not make a very good judgment in their decisions.  Their decisions turned out to be questionable to the US immigration law, which led the CGFNS to deny VisaScreen Certificates to June 2006 board passers.  At the same time, the American Nurses Association now urges a full retake of the exam, but a different set, before they can be eligible to work in the US (see statements here and here).  They believe that the health standard and safety of the Americans will not be protected if they allow the board passers of a compromised exam to work in the US.   ANA is one of the strongest proponents of the pre-screening provisions of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, as part of the association's commitment to maintaining the highest professional standards, and ensuring a pre-screening process that works to protect the public safety. 

Should the PRC had ordered a retake of the exam for the June 2006 examinees, this issue would not have put Philippine nurses' reputations into question.

What is next after passing the board exam

After passing the board exam, the board passers are required to get registered with the Philippine Regulation Commission (PRC) to become a full pledged nurse.  The PRC will announce the schedule of registration of successful examinees in alphabetical order later.  Here's a list of the requirements for the registration process:

• Duly accomplished Oath Form or Panunumpa ng Propesyonal
• Current Community Tax Certificate or cedula
• 2 pcs. passport size photo (must be colored with white background and complete name tag)
• 2 sets of metered documentary stamps
• 1 short brown envelope (with name and profession written on it)
• Initial registration fee of 600 pesos
• Annual registration fee of 450 pesos (valid from 2007 - 2010)
• Personal appearance for registration and signature in the Roster of Registered Professionals

On February 4, 2007, Sunday, the oath taking ceremony of the successful examinees from the December 2006 Board Exam, as well as the previous ones who have not taken their Oath of Professional, will be held at the Cuneta Astrodome, Derham Park, Pasay City.  The schedule will be:

• 8:00 AM for surnames starting from A to J
• 1:00 PM for surnames starting from K-Z

The attendees must come in proper attire:

• white gala uniform
• white duty shoes
• nurses cap (for female)
• hair not touching the collar
• without earrings
• without corsage
  

December 2006 Board Examination Results

On January 14th, the results of the Nursing Licensure Board Examination were released by the Philippine Regulation Commission (PRC).  The PRC announced a total of 19,712  board passers out of 40,147 who took the exam on December 2nd and 3rd, 2006. However, four examinees were withheld pending a final determination due to some liabilities to the rules and regulations of the licensure examination.

In the June 2007 board exam, some test takers who failed the exam will be allowed to retake it.  This includes those who failed the exam in the Bicol region who were extremely affected by the super typhoon 'Reming' during the examination period.  The re-takers from the June 2006 board exam from the same region will be allowed to retake Tests III and V, but this June 2007 only.

Filipino Nurses 2 US congratulates and welcomes the December 2006 batch of new registered nurses.

Click here to see the List of Successful Applicants

Filipino Doctor's Dilemma

Each year, nearly a million Filipinos take jobs abroad.   The people of the Philippines have become some of the most mobile workers of the world.  The most successful are the Filipino nurses who are able to make it in the US. Even other wealthy countries rely on Filipino nurses to meet the demands for their health care.

In the last five years, out of 56,000 Filipino doctors, 9,000 have shifted their careers to nursing. They took a special training program for doctors to become nurses,  and 5,000 of them have since gone abroad to work as nurses.  If this trend continues, the Philippine health care system will suffer and the Philippines can not afford to hire foreign doctors and nurses like the wealthy countries do.

Nowadays, most of the government hospitals are understaffed of nurses and only a few doctors rotate to these hospitals.  The care suffers as the minimum nurse-patient ratio is most often not met.  The patients are not given immediate care by the doctors as well, resulting to morbidity or mortality in a worst case scenario.

Either way, whether the doctors become nurses or they remain as doctors,  they still opt to leave the country.  Their reasons vary individually, but the major factor is money.   The doctors in the Philippines earn at an average of $300 to $800 a month, unless maybe they are very famous and working in a reputable private hospital.  Much less if they are working as a nurse as they would only get an average of $150 to $250 per month.  The average monthly income of a nurse in the US on the other hand is $4000 and for doctors $10,000.  So, there is no question why they would prefer to be a nurse or doctor in the US when money is a factor. 

Those who are willing to swallow their pride as a doctor and work as a nurse instead thus stand to make significantly more in the US than they could ever hope to at home. In some cases doctors do this hoping to get into the US and use it as a stepping stone in becoming a doctor there.  It is very rare that you would hear success stories like that though.  Once they start working as nurse in the US, they just work as a nurse forever. 

Nursing is a noble profession so as to any level of health care profession.  It is not a downgrade of your career or anything, but it is a passion of work that you live in your life.  Money may be a major factor, but it is only one factor in why doctors would become a nurse.  May you be a doctor or a nurse, both provide care that heals not only the physical sickness but brings hope to people and their families and is one of the most important and rewarding careers anyone can choose. Rather than asking why won't doctors make a sacrifice to stay and work in the Philippines maybe we can ask why does the government allow the economy to be in such a bad way that they are forced to make that choice.

Doctors who became nurses might want to become doctors again

A study in the United States predicts a shortage of physicians of around 200,000 or 20 percent of the needed workforce by the year 2020 to 2025.  In fact, the state of Oregon started its Physicians Visa Waiver Program in August 2002.  This is otherwise called the Conrad Program or J-1 Visa Waiver Program.  This program was implemented and funded through  the creation of  Administrative Rules 333-005 and collection of a $2000 application fee, which was enabled by the 2003 State Legislature enacted House Bill 2151.  The Physician Visa Waiver Program allows Oregon to sponsor 30 J-1 Visa application every federal fiscal year (October 1 to September 30).

Usually, the international medical graduates who study in the United States are required to return to their home countries for two years upon completion of residencies and fellowships.  However, the J-1 Visa Waiver Program allows these doctors to remain in the United States, if they accept employment from a federally designated shortage area.    Since many Oregonians do not have access to a primary care doctor in their community, they have come up with this program that will help them maintain their health care system.

J-1 Visa is available in all states where there are medically underserved areas or health professional shortage areas.  The J-1 Visa Waiver Program waives the two-year foreign residency requirement of the J-1 Visa. 

Another visa available for physicians is the temporary worker visa or H-1B, which is an alternative to J-1 visa.  A physician can use the H-1B for a two-year residency program in the US to waive the two-year foreign residency requirement.  In order to obtain the H-1B status as a medical student, the physician must pass all parts of either the FLEX, the NBME, or the USMLE examinations.  Upon completion of their residency programs, these physicians are able to obtain H-1B visas and permanent resident status through employer sponsorship. Others are able to immigrate to the U.S. through close relatives who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

Now that a shortage in physicians is expected in the US, and that working visas are limited for nurses, and no immigrant visas are available right now,  maybe the doctors who have become nurses as second course would want to become doctors again.

Minimum Nurse-to-Patient Ratios to be enforced

Another problem caused by the continuous nursing shortage and the effect of retrogression of visas is using the nursing staff inefficiently.  Hospitals are unable to meet their minimum staffing requirement, causing the nurses to get burnt out of their job and sometimes leaving their positions.  The nurses leave even before the hospital can hire a new one.  In this case, nurse-to-patient ratio is difficult to maintain and is becoming a serious potential problem in patient's safety.

The State of California has already passed a law mandating ratios in medical-surgical units, and now several other states are considering legislation ensuring a minimum nurse-to-patient ratios in the hospitals.  By forcing the hospitals to meet the minimum staffing requirements,  they can ensure patient safety, reduce patients deaths,  recruit new nurses, and stop  the nurses from leaving the job.   

Serious complains and problems have been encountered because of the poor nurse-to-patient ratios. The number of nurses in a hospital is not enough for the number of patients.  The workload they have affects their performance and efficiency at work. In most cases, the nurses have to attend to their patients at the same time do their paperwork and charting, locate supplies and attend to operational problems.  And since  there is a shortage in nursing,  some nurses are obliged to work for long hours and more shifts causing them to get too tired and burned out.

More and more problems are arising due to the nursing shortage and the effect of retrogression of visas.  Not only are employers complaining about it, but now the different states are starting to act on it.  This is one way to let the US government knows they have to create a specialize visa for nurses to fill their nursing shortage and address the problems in the hospitals caused by it.   

Registered Nurses in the US

The US projects that Registered Nurses will be the second largest number of new jobs among all occupations.  There will be abundant job opportunities in most specialties and employment settings for nurses.  Many employers report having  difficulty in attracting and retaining enough nurses.

Registered nurses in the US constitute the largest health care occupation. About 3 out of 5 nurses work in a hospitals (inpatient and outpatient departments).Others are working in physician's clinics, nursing care facilities, home health care services, employment services, government agencies, and outpatient care centers.  The rest are working in social assistance agencies and educational services, both public and private. 1 out of 4 nurses works part-time.

Specialty area nurses are expected to have excellent job opportunities in the future.  The employment of registered nurses is expected to grow fast through 2020.  Thousands of new jobs result from continuous nursing shortage and the need to replace experienced nurses who leave the occupation.

Based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual salary earnings of registered nurses was $52,330 in May 2004.  The statistics showed that the middle 50% earned about $43,370 to $63,360, while the lowest 10% earned less than $37,300, and the highest 10% earned more than $74,760. 

Median annual earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of registered nurses in May 2004 were as follows (source: BLS):

Employment services	$63,170
General medical and surgical hospitals	53,450
Home health care services	48,990
Offices of physicians	48,250
Nursing care facilities	48,220

Many employers offer flexible work schedules, child care, educational benefits, and bonuses.

More and more nurses are needed in the US as more technological advances in patient care are invented. There will be a greater number of medical problems to be treated.  They need to emphasize more on preventive care.  Also, the number of older people, who need nursing care, is projected to grow rapidly.