Friday, September 29, 2006 Editorial: Nursing board exams
THERE is a need to view objectively and with an open mind the presidential order issued the other day for the nursing examinees in last June’s board examination to retake the test.
The reported leak in the test questions of some subjects has reportedly diminished the image of Filipino nurses here and abroad.
It put to question the competence and integrity of our nurses in general.
Opposition
But the possibility that such an order would be opposed is high and should be well taken.
There is no doubting the fact that many of those who took the board exams passed it on their merit and competence.
There is also no doubting the fact that the examinees spent money and effort to be able to take it.
To make them retake it, especially at a time when money is hard to come by, is quite unfair.
Higher consideration
But there are also those who believe that President Arroyo, in issuing the order, must have considered all possible implications and repercussions of her decision.
Poor examinees, for example, will be hard put in raising similar amount of money to retake the examination.
The cost it entails will certainly be tremendous for them.
But again, there is a sense of urgency here, and a higher consideration that should be addressed.
Well-taken
Senators, during the Senate hearing on the issue, expressed deep concern that “the leakage had besmirched the reputation of Filipino nurses and the integrity of the nursing licensure exam” in the country.
The message was for the examinees that honestly passed the test but are cash strapped to subsume their interest in favor of the greater one.
The point is, if government would not show any effort to correct the effect of the leakage on the image of our nation’s nurses abroad, it will have an impact in so far as employment of Filipino nurses there.
In this regard, the presidential decision, for some sectors, is well taken.
Far-reaching
But the most important point to consider here is the fact that for the malfeasance of one or two examiners, the whole nursing profession took a beating.
The social and economic implication of their act is decidedly far-reaching.
