2008 nursing board exam topnotcher opts to serve countrymen first

MANILA, Philippines - The woman who topped the 2008 nursing board exam has no plans of working abroad. “I want to serve the Filipino people...[and] work as a nurse here in the Philippines," Aira Therese Salamanca Javier said in a GMA News interview aired over 24 Oras Friday night. Javier, a native of Batangas, was a consistent University of the Sto. Tomas scholar from 1st year to 4th year. She is currently an assistant clinical instructor in the College of Nursing at the UST. It has been Javier’s dream to become a nurse since she was a child. She said she was stunned when her professors broke the news that she topped the board examination. “I asked (my professors) if they were joking. They said, no… I asked again, what place? They said you’re No.1," she said. “I was really shocked. I was not expecting it really (to become the topnotcher)," she added. Aside from Javier, three other UST nursing graduates landed in the top 5 - Ana Rica Gutierrez, Maria Alyssa Policarpio and Aileen Grace Sotyco. According to the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), only 43.1% or 27,765 of the total 64,459 board takers hurdled the examination, some of them repeaters. The examination was administered in 10 areas nationwide, including Manila, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, Iloilo, Legazpi, Tacloban, Lucena, Tuguegarao and Zamboanga Cities. PRC chair Leonor Rosero attributed the low number of board passers to the lack of proficient nursing instructors. “It’s the quality of education…it matters a lot. Kaya kung ang kanilang equipment, kung ang preparation ng kanilang mga professors are not really that good siyempre it also affects the students," she explained. The successful examinees will take their oaths on Aug. 19 and 20 at the SMX Convention Center at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City. Meanwhile, the next nursing licensure exam this year is set on Nov. 29-30. The last day of registration for the said examination is on Oct 17. - GMANews.TV