Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 21) — Instead of hiring unlicensed nurses, authorities should focus on improving the board exam and keep the 75% passing rate to ensure competency and integrity of medical professionals, Senate Minority leader Koko Pimentel said Wednesday.
“Stick to 75%, reexamine the exam, make it direct to the point, really test competence and readiness…It must be basic, entry-level questions for the nursing profession,” Pimentel told CNN Philippines’ The Source.
On Monday, Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Ted Herbosa said he plans to hire nursing graduates who scored at least 70% in their board exam to fill the over 4,000 vacant positions in the department.
The DOH also said in May that the Philippines, which is a major deployer of medical workers abroad, has a shortage of nearly 130,000 nurses. Filling this gap may take 12 years, it noted.
Herbosa’s plan was supported by the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP). Dr. Rontgene Solante, president of PCP, said doing so will help the nurses to eventually pass the licensure test through the training they will receive in the hospital.
For Pimentel, employing nurses who scored below the passing mark may lessen the integrity of the test systems. The 75% passing rate was set to identify those who are competent enough and are ready to serve the public, he noted.
“The judgment has already been rendered in that exam that the (health) secretary was referring to, 75 was the passing grade,” Pimentel said. “ We cannot do something and then make believe that those who got lower than 75 all the way down to 70, we will make believe that they have also passed.”
Patients will feel secure knowing that the medical worker they are dealing with is certified, he pointed out.
If the hiring of unlicensed nurses will be implemented, the senator said it should start during the next board exam. Any adjustments should also be announced before the next cycle, he added.
The first nursing board exam for this year was held in May, to be followed by another batch in November.
If the plan is implemented retroactively, this may lead to violations to existing laws and regulations, like the setting of the 75% passing grade, Pimentel noted.
