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Monday, May 22, 2006
Education body mulls limit in nursing enrollees
By Rimaliza Opiña
THE Commission on Higher Education (Ched) denied observations they have been lax in the issuance of licenses to higher educational institutions wanting to operate nursing schools in the Cordillera region.
Ched Regional Director Magdalena Jasmin however admitted that because of the increasing demand for nurses especially abroad, some nursing schools enroll many students.
"The observation is correct in a way," Jasmin said, but she was quick to add that the commission is taking cognizance of this concern, the reason why its Central Office is thinking of prescribing a quota on the number of students to be admitted in a given school term.
The plan however will have to undergo public hearing on a nationwide scale, Jasmin said, given the possibility that it might be misinterpreted as a breach on academic freedom.
"There are many things to reckon with. This is a complicated scenario," she explained, stressing that the desire of parents who want their children to take up nursing and the students who want to take up the course also have to be given importance.
In Cordillera, Jasmin said the Ched and the deans of various nursing schools are set to discuss the matter in a meeting from May 24 to 26, the venue of which has yet to be finalized. She said issues on affiliation and alternative measures, in case the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) fails to accommodate all students wanting to train at the region's largest hospital, will also be discussed.
She said one alternative being explored is for first and second year students to train in secondary hospitals. This way, the BGHMC can unclog the number of students doing internship in the hospital.
BGHMC is classified as a tertiary hospital.
The deans of nursing schools in Baguio recently passed a resolution asking the health department and the BGHMC management to prioritize nursing schools in the region with regard affiliation.
BGHMC Chief Manuel Factora, meanwhile, declined to comment on the issue but stressed that BGHMC "should be maintained as a hospital that caters to all patients (at least) in Northern Luzon."
He also clarified that while a new building was constructed at the BGH, the hospital will not increase its 350-bed capacity, as the new structure is meant to unclog its present occupancy rate.
BGHMC schedules three shifts for interns.
(May 22, 2006 issue)
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