WNC nursing board examinees barking at the wrong tree, says PRC head
Atty. Nelia Jesusa Lingaya-Gonzales leads the 145
nursing graduates from West Negros College in
filing the petition for mandamus with the Regional
Trial Court (RTC) for the Professional Regulation
Commission to release the results of their exams
taken in December last year.
Iloilo -- Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) Regional Director Lily Ann R. Baldago pitied the group of nursing graduates from West Negros College (WNC) in Bacolod City who bewailed the withholding of their board exam results and filed a mandamus petition for its release.
Baldago, in an interview with Bombo Radyo, said the nursing graduates are barking at the wrong tree as the decision to withhold their results came from the PRC's Board of Nursing.
Baldago said PRC withheld the board exam results of 604 nursing graduates in the country pending investigation due to academic overloading.
Many of the affected graduates are practicing professionals such as doctors, pharmacists and even lawyers.
Baldago said the commission is questioning why said students were allowed to take from 40 to 56 units per semester. Said students finish the nursing course from two to 2 ½ years instead of the regular four years.
Baldago admitted that she recommended to PRC head office the withholding of board exam results of only 62 students from the region for the same reason.
The regional director, herself a nurse and former dean of the College of Nursing of West Visayas State University, said it is physically impossible for said nursing students to satisfactorily finish the course with such number of subjects per semester.
She said such practice puts into question their qualification as nurses.
Baldago said PRC is just protecting the image of the nursing profession particularly abroad where Filipino nurses abound.
Baldago however stressed that it is only the Board of Nursing that can lift the withholding of the board exam results.
Marilyn Jocson, a faculty at WNC College of Nursing, however said the alleged "academic overloading" is sanctioned by the Commission on Higher Education (Ched) of which WNC is under its supervision.
Jocson said all they want is that the board exam results of their students be released so that the students would know whether they have passed or not.
"We have waited for more than a month, they (PRC) did not even send a single communication to the affected students to explain the reason why their results are being withheld," Jocson said.
"We only learned about the so-called overloading as the reason for the withholding of the results by word of mouth. We want a written explanation," she added.
Jocson admitted that most of whose results were withheld are practicing professionals who took the nursing course.
"I can guarantee that these students are good and dedicated even if they are working," said Jocson.
"What wrong have they committed to have their results withheld? Is it wrong to hope for a better future?" Jocson further lamented.
The nursing graduates, wearing black shirts, were assisted by lawyer Nelia Jesusa Lingaya-Gonzales in filing the mandamus petition signed by 145 nursing graduates.
The nursing board exam was administered last December 3 and 4, 2005. Those who have passed the board exam are set to take their oath as nurses Wednesday, January 25, in a hotel in Iloilo City.