39,455 pass nursing board exam; Baguio grad is No. 1

(Update) MANILA, Philippines - Some 39,455 nursing examinees passed the November 2008 Nursing Board Exam, with a nursing hopeful from Baguio City topping the highly anticipated list. A complete list of passers released by the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) on Friday showed that the passing rate was 44.51 percent of 88,649 nursing graduates who took the exam on Nov. 29-30, 2008. The PRC said the exam’s topnotcher was Jovie Ann Alawas Decoyna of the Baguio Central University (BCU), who got a score of 89 percent. She was joined by 72 other passers – most with tied scores – who were able to squeeze in to the Top 10. "I was so overwhelmed. I did not expect to even pass. But I just entrusted everything to the Lord," Decoyna told GMANews.TV in a phone interview from Baguio. The 24-year-old lass - who used to be a farmer of rice and vegetables during her teenage years - said in a period of global recession, she would rather work in the Philippines for now and just try out opportunities abroad later on. While BCU produced this year’s topnotcher, Saint Paul University in Iloilo, the University of Saint Louis in Tuguegarao, Cagayan and the Foundation University in Dumaguete were No. 1 in the passing rate, with all of their examinees passing. Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro came next with a passing rate of 99 percent, with 336 of 341 students hurdling the test. The November 29-30, 2008 examination was administered in 12 areas nationwide, including Manila, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu City, Davao City, Iloilo City, Legazpi, Lucena, Tacloban, Tuguegarao, Sulu, and Zamboanga City. The Board of Nursing is composed of its chairman Carmencita Abaquin, and members Leonila Faire, Betty Merritt, Perla Po, Marco Antonio Sto.Tomas, Yolanda Arugay, and Amelia B. Rosales. Requirements Board passers are required to bring the following: duly accomplished Oath Form, a cedula, two (2) pieces passport size picture, one (1) piece 1"x1" picture, two sets of metered documentary stamps, and one short brown envelope with name and profession. Passers also need to pay a P600 initial registration fee and a P450 annual registration fee. They are also required to personally register and sign in the Roster of Registered Professionals. Oath-taking ceremonies for Manila examinees and those who have not previously taken their oaths will be held at the SMX Convention Center in SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City on April 6 and 7 (Monday and Tuesday). Passers are required to come in their white gala uniform, nurses cap, white duty shoes, without earrings, hair not touching the collar and without corsage. Oathtaking tickets for the National Capital Region (NCR) and nearby regions will be available at the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) at 1663 F.T. Benitez Street, Malate Manila, starting March 2, 2009. Regional oathtaking schedules will be posted in the BON website: www.bonphilippines.org. Looking Back In June 2008's nursing exam, 27,765 out of 64,459 passed, or 43.1 percent of the more than who took the test. At that time, a University of Santo Tomas graduate topped the list of passers with an 86-percent score. The Nursing Licensure Exam, like a few other licensure exams in the country, has had its own share of controversies, the most-talked about being the one conducted in 2006. The alleged leakage incident that year prompted the PRC to form an independent fact-finding committee that recommended a retake of the exam. Although Friday's results have just elevated almost 40,000 students into being a registered nurse, the government is still concerned they would be an addition to the current pool of nurses that might find difficulty securing jobs abroad. The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) last Wednesday urged nursing schools to device ways on how to produce an even more competent set of graduates. The POEA said that more stringent screening and an intensified training could help Filipino nurses hurdle the now stricter standards being observed by nurse-importing countries like New Zealand. - Mark Merueñas, GMANews.TV