Thursday, October 26, 2006
US nursing body defers test in RP pending leakage resolution (3:40 p.m.)
MANILA -- The leakage in the nursing examinations last June caused the US National Council of State Boards of Nursing Inc. (NCSBN) to put off its plan to include the Philippines among its international testing centers, according to a top official of the NCSBN.
Faith Fields, newly elected NCSBN head, called on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at Malacaņang's Music Room on Wednesday.
Also present in the courtesy call were Ruth Ann Terry, NCSBN treasurer; Cassey Marks, assistant executive director; Fraser Cargill, director for Asia Pacific (NCSBN); Jose Molano Jr., executive director; Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) chair Dante Ang; and Jennifer Gonzales, deputy executive director, and Golda Myra Roma, director, all of the CFO.
The NCSBN is a non-profit organization of the boards of nursing of 50 states in the US, the District of Columbia, and the US territories of American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
The CFO is lobbying for the inclusion of the Philippines as an international testing center on the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) for nurses. The NCLEX is a licensure examination taken by more than 9,000 Filipino nurses yearly, with the hope of securing jobs in hospitals and health institutions in the US.
The NCLEX can be taken in US territories and selected international test centers in Hong Kong, Korea, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Germany, India, Mexico and Taiwan.
"Obviously, it (leakage) has affected (our decision) because we were set to make a decision. When the leakage occurred, we decided to back off to get the results of how you handle that," Fields said in an ambush interview after her courtesy call on Arroyo.
Fields also said the board is watching how the government will handle the leakage issue. "We will definitely be waiting for the outcome of the issue," she said. (Sunnex) |
