Friday, June 27, 2008 Nursing schools warned to implement new curriculum
THE Commission on Higher Education (Ched) on Thursday warned licenses of nursing schools that would fail to implement the revised nursing curriculum next school year would be revoked.
Ched Commissioner Nona Ricafort said nursing schools in the country have until June of next school year to implement the revised nursing curriculum.
Ricafort said reports reaching their office indicated that about 30 percent of the 263 nursing schools in the country have complied with the revised curriculum.
"By June next year, everybody must comply and implement the new curriculum otherwise the commission may be constrained to revoke their license," Ricafort said adding that the one-year deadline from last Thursday was provided to give all nursing schools enough time to consider its implementation.
Under Ched Memorandum Order (MO) 5 series of 2008, setting the revised policies and standard curriculum for Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), the BSN program will remain a four-year course with additional three summers and load of 43 units and related learning experience (RLE).
The RLE was described as the internship or the hands-on learning education of all nursing students prior to graduation.
Various associations of higher education institutions offering nursing program, including the Coordinating Council of Private Education Association (Cocopea), have voiced their opposition to the revised curriculum saying that it would only result in additional burden on the students.
The group through its chairman Fr. Roderick Salazar likewise pointed to the lack of consultation on the matter.
Of the 212 units, they said, only 87 units are general education subjects meaning if a nursing student decides to shift to another course in his third year, he or she will be credited with less general education subjects in his new course which means a longer delay in his studies.
They also pointed out that the professional courses under the new memorandum order were maximized to 125 units, of which 49 units are for RLE with a total of 2,499 exposure/contact hours, they said.
Thus, they argued three summers added to the regular school year to accommodate all the additional units.
Likewise, they said, Ched failed to hold a public hearing as mandated under Republic Act (RA) 7722 but the higher education body belied the allegation saying they complied with the procedures and requirements in line with the recommendation of the Technical Committee on Nursing Education (TCNE), which are composed of experts in the field.
Ricafort admitted that the low rate of compliance was due to appeal made to Malacañang by the nursing schools, including members of Cocopea.
Cocopea represents a consortium of private education institution in the country with more than 2,500 member schools.
Ricafort said Malacañang has directed the Ched technical panel on the implementation of the revised curriculum to submit its position paper refuting issues raised by Cocopea in objecting to the implementation of the revised curriculum.
She also pointed out that the Palace has the final say whether the new curriculum will finally be implemented notwithstanding the one year deadline for compliance.
Earlier, Judge Esperanza Fabon-Victorino of the Pasig City Regional Trial Court (RTC) junked Cocopea's petition for a temporary restraining order (TRO) seeking to prevent the implementation of the new nursing curriculum due to lack of merit.
Despite Cocopea's objection, the Philippine Nursing Association (PNA), Association of Deans of the Colleges of Nursing of the Philippines (ADCNP) and Association of Private Hospitals in the Philippines (APHP) declared their strong support to the implementation of MO 5.
"This new BSN program aims to produce a fully functioning nurse who is able to perform the competencies under each of the Key Areas of Responsibility as enumerated in Article IV, Section 5, of MO 5," said PNA president Leah Samaco-Paquiz.
"With the additional subjects, the code of ethics of the profession would be inculcated in future Filipino nurses," added Carmelita Divinagracia, president of ADCNP.
Despite the added units and the high cost of nursing education in the country, many students still opted to take the course buoyed by prospects of working abroad and earning more than three times what their local counterparts earn.
The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) said 17,000 health professionals, including nurses, will be needed this year alone in Europe and the United States with the demand likely to grow even beyond 2010.
Ched records showed that nursing enrollees have gone up more than 16 times since 1999, when only around 27,000 chose to take up nursing.
In 2006, 453,890 students enrolled in nursing program.
This school year, nursing still tops the number of enrollees for higher education. Ched said 497,214 of the total 2.8 million college students trooped to nursing schools when classes in colleges and universities opened last Thursday. The figure is considerably higher by 70,595 students from last year's 426,619. (AH/Sunnex)
