Laguesma: Employing nursing grads who failed board exams should be studied thoroughly

Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma on Tuesday said the proposed granting of temporary licenses to nursing graduates with a 70% to 74% board exam rate must be thoroughly studied.

Health Secretary Ted Herbosa made the proposal to address the lack of nurses in government hospitals. In his proposal,  nursing graduates who scored slightly lower than 75% in the board exam should be allowed to work in government hospitals provided that they will pass the exam within a given time frame.

Interviewed on Super Radyo dzBB, Laguesma said the intention of the proposal is good but they would study it first to determine the possible guidelines.

"Kasama sa aming pag-uusapan ano ba ang mga alituntunin, ano ba ang mga guideline (We will discuss what the rules and the guidelines will be)," he said.

“Dapat siguro tingnan natin mabuti at magkaroon ng pagkakasundo kung ano ang mga dapat na regulasyon nang sa gayo’n mapangalagaan din ang laman ng batas (Perhaps we should take a good look and agree on what the regulations should be so that it will be done in accordance with the law.),” he added.

“Kailangan masusing pag-aralan (Must be studied thoroughly).”

Herbosa on Monday said Laguesma has already agreed to the proposal and vowed to coordinate with the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) to provide temporary licenses to eligible nursing graduates.

The newly-appointed Health chief said once they pass the board exam, the licensed nurses have to sign a four-year return service agreement and provide service to government hospitals before they are allowed to work abroad.

If allowed to work in the government, he said nursing graduates could earn a starting salary of around P35,000 to P40,000, which will go higher with experience. —KBK, GMA Integrated News