PNA vs institutionalizing practical nursing program

June 18, 2008 20:14:00
Katherine Evangelista
INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) on Wednesday declared its opposition to the proposal of the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) to “ladderize” the nursing curriculum to institutionalize the practical nursing course Wednesday.

At the same time, the PNA called on schools offering practical nursing to be “honest” and not “mislead” prospective students into believing there is a high demand for practical nurses abroad when there is none.

A PNA position paper signed by head of 27 different nurses’ groups stressed that institutionalizing practical nursing would be “a step backward in progress” when the health sector should be moving forward.

The statement said it would not be “fair” to insist on revising the Philippine Nursing Law “just to legitimize the program” and recommended instead a moratorium on the operation of schools with practical nursing programs.

Dr. Leah Primitiva G. Samaco-Paquiz, PNA national president, she said there is no demand for practical nurses both locally and abroad, contrary to what schools offering two-year practical nursing courses claim.

The PNA claims that adding practical nursing to the nursing curriculum would only “bloat” the health manpower in an industry already unable to absorb the “oversupply” of nurses.

According to the PNA’s, there were 65,000 newly registered nurses in 2007 alone.

Over the next few years, the country’s 460 nursing schools are projected to produce 100,000 more new graduates.


On the other hand, there are currently 200 schools offering the practical nursing program, Paquiz said.

According to Paquiz, nursing has become the “milking cow” of many schools since the course has a very high enrollment rate.

The PNA noted that the quality of nursing education in the country has deteriorated due to the “proliferation of poor performing nursing schools” that are not properly monitored and regulated by CHEd.

The country also does not have adequate training capacity sine only 20 percent of the 1,600 hospitals can offer formal training for nurses.

But compared to practical nurses, Paquiz said professional nurses are highly trained in both the theoretical and practical aspects of nursing. Even licensed practical nurses are not allowed to work without the supervision of a professional nurse.

On June 13, a major newspaper ran an advertisement that claimed the “Demand for Practical Nurses Abroad Increases” in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and the Arab Emirates.

It also claimed that more nursing schools have opened “to meet the demand for skilled and competent healthcare workers abroad.”

Paquiz said the PNA has received letters from two practical nursing graduates who went to the United States and Canada hoping to get good-paying jobs in hospitals only to be rejected, along with other licenses Filipino practical nurses, despite having passed the National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses (NCLEX-PN), because the hospitals there do not accept foreign practical nursing graduates.

The NCLEX-PN is the licensure exam for practical nurses seeking employment in American hospitals.

The letter writers, said Paquiz, lamented being “lured into this trap” by the schools they attended, which they said gave them “false hopes” of getting good jobs abroad in just 12 or 18 months.

But Paquiz said the US and Canada only accept licensed practical nurses who graduate from their schools.

She challenged the 200 nursing schools currently offering practical nursing courses to present data on the number of graduates that they have helped get jobs abroad.