Fewer Filipino Nurses Taking the NCLEX Exam : NursingCrib.com Updates

Fewer Filipino Nurses Taking the NCLEX Exam

Posted: 09 Feb 2010 05:57 PM PST

In the recent NCLEX Statistics data released by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), the number of Filipino Nurses taking the NCLEX examination plunged by 26 percent in 2009.

A total of 15,382 Filipino nurses took the NCLEX for the first time from January to December 2009, a decrease of 5,364 compared to the 20,746 that took the examinations in the same 12-month period in 2008.

According to former senator and TUCP secretary general Ernesto Herrera, to build up the competitiveness of Filipino nurses in foreign labor markets, the Philippine Government needs to do the following:

The immediate shutdown of 152 nursing schools previously classified as “substandard” by the Commission on Higher Education;
The annual rating of the remaining 308 nursing colleges (net of the 152 to be closed down), based on the performance of their graduates in the local licensure examinations over the last five years, and the yearly publication of the rating of every college so that buyers of nursing education may be guided accordingly;
The provision of free intensive second foreign language training, via the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, to nursing graduates seeking employment in non-English speaking countries such as Japan and the Middle East; and
The strengthening of the capabilities of all state-owned hospitals, whether run by the Department of Health or by local governments, to provide superior clinical training to junior and senior nursing students.

With regards to the overwhelming number of Filipino nursing students, Herrera lamented that many of them are not getting adequate clinical training or “related learning experience” in hospitals.

“Hospitals can no longer accommodate all our nursing students in emergency rooms, operating rooms, intensive care units, and delivery rooms. There are just too many of them waiting in line to observe procedures,” Herrera said.

View the NCLEX Passing Rates 4Q 2009