Pinoy R.N.

News of Leakage, West Negros College Irregularities, and IELTS Fraud Alarms CGFNS

Posted by Lyle, RN

Pinoy R.N. today got hold of a communication sent out by Donna Rae Richardson JD, RN, Director for Governmental Affairs and Professional Standards of the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) to US State Boards of Nursing, US Department of Homeland Security, IELTS, and other nursing stakeholders detailing the recent issues affecting nurse licensure regulation as well as irregularities in the conduct of IELTS examinations in the Philippines.

Nursing licensure concerns mentioned in the communication included the overloading of academic units and related learning experience (RLE) hours of students from West Negros College. It also scored the mass resignation of members of the CHED nursing technical committee and the alleged leakage in the recently concluded June 2006 Nurse Licensure Examination.

The communication, sent out last July 19, 2006 narrated the irregularities discovered by United Kingdom’s Nurse and Midwifery Council (NMC) on the conduct of IELTS english proficiency exam in the country. Irregularities mentioned included impersonation and fabrication of fraudulent IELTS test scores.

In view of the irregularities, the CGFNS has implemented stricter guidelines in the screening and verification of applicants’ documents coming from the Philippines.

Oathtaking for Nurses Postponed

Posted by Lyle, RN

The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) today announced the postponement of the scheduled August 22, 2006 oathtaking of new nurses pending the resolution of the investigation being conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation on the alleged leakage of questions in the recently concluded nursing board exam.

The decision came after Eufemia Octaviano, board of nursing chairperson, met with the nursing deans of University of Sto. Tomas (UST), University of the East(UE), and University of the Philippines(UP).

Retrogression in October 2006

Posted by Lyle, RN

Unless the immigration bill approved by the US senate removing limit on nurse visas is signed into law by US President George W. Bush, retrogression on nurse visas is likely to happen this October.

This means that all petitions beyond the cut-off date will be frozen until all pending petitions are processed and new visa numbers are appropriated.

The visa bulletin, released a few days ago, summarized the availability of immigrant numbers during August. Section F of the bulletin carried the following information:

A total of 50,000 numbers were provided for use in the Schedule A (EX) visa category which was established last May 2005. Visa demand in this category is approaching that limit, and may require the establishment of a cut-off date as early as October. Once all 50,000 numbers have been made available under the current limitation, processing under this category will end.

Source: US State Department Visa Bulletin

Information posted at the website of US immigration attorneys, IVENER & FULLMER LLP approximated that 37,000 of the 50,000 Schedule A numbers have been allocated with current usage of 2,700 to 2,800 per month.

PRC Identifies Leakage Source in Release of Nursing Exam Results

Posted by Lyle, RN

The Professional Regulation Commission identified the two (2) board members who leaked the test questions as Anesia B. Dionisio and Virginia D. Madeja as they released the results of the controversial nurse licensure examination conducted last June 11-12, 2006.

DOWNLOAD Nurse Licensure Exam Results:

click here (download 1) or here (download 2)

PRC Considering Nursing Board Exam Re-Take

Posted by Lyle, RN

Professional Regulation Commission chairperson Leonor Tripon-Rosero on Friday announced the possibility of nullifying the recent June board examinations for Nurses conducted last June 11-12, 2006.

Repeating the nursing board is exam is an option according to the PRC chair.

A fact-finding committee on Thursday found evidence implicating two board of nursing members in the much publicized leakage.

Roughly 42,000 nursing graduates took the Nurse Licensure Examination last month in the cities of Manila, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Legaspi, Lucena, Tacloban, Tuguegarao and Zamboanga.

Copyright ® Pinoy R.N. Up-to-date Nursing News, Information, Articles and Online Forum for Filipino Nurses and Student Nurses.

PRC: Two Board Members Leaked Questions

Posted by Lyle, RN

The Professional Regulation Commission today confirmed that two (2) members of the Board of Nursing leaked questions in the recently concluded Nurse Licensure Examination.

In a report signed by PRC Chairperson Leonor Tripon-Rosero and commissioners Avelina de la Rea and Renato Valdecantos, administrative and criminal charges were recommended against the two (2) unnamed Board of Nursing members.

The PRC has asked the two (2) to inhibit themselves from the processing and release of the June 11-12 Nurse Licensure Examination results.

A separate investigation by the National Bureau of Investigation will be initiated to determine criminal liabilities and for the filing of appropriate charges.

Rumors of a leakage in the nursing exam spread like wildfire in recent weeks prompting the PRC to form a fact-finding committee to investigate the allegation. A prominent review center was implicated along with several nursing schools.

Exam results will be released next week.

Copyright ® Pinoy R.N. Up-to-date Nursing News, Information, Articles and Online Forum for Filipino Nurses and Student Nurses.

Nurse Licensure Examination Results - June 2006

Posted by Lyle, RN

Download June 2006 Nurse Licensure Exam Results HERE.

PRC Announcement:

Registration of successful examinees will start on Tuesday, August 15, 2006. Registration will be alphabetical based on the examinees last name. Specific schedules will be announced at a later date.

Oathtaking Schedules:

Quezon City - August 22, 2006

Cebu - August 23, 2006

Zamboanga - August 26, 2006

Iloilo - August 29, 2006

Tuguegarao - August 30, 2006

Legazpi - August 31, 2006

Davao - August 31, 2006

Baguio - September 3, 2006

Tacloban - September 6, 2006

Cagayan de Oro - September 7, 2006

For other details, please contact the local chapter of the Philippine Nurses Association in your area.

News Updates:

PRC confirms leakage in nursing exam (7/13/2006)

Nursing test scandal sparks Baguio street protests (7/12/2006)

School execs seek Flavier help in exam leak probe (7/11/2006)

Arroyo to be asked to order probe vs nursing test leakage (7/9/2006)

Nursing exam plea not yet in Senate (7/4/2006)

Charges of cheating hound PRC nursing exam (7/1/2006)

Text fraud preying on nursing grads (7/1/2006)

Lawmaker calls for speedy probe of nursing exam leak (7/1/2006)

Review schools’ regulation studied (6/29/2006)

Cover-up hunts nursing board over 'leakage' (6/26/2006)

PRC asked to freeze release of 2006 nursing exam results (6/22/2006)
Nursing review firm mulls suit over 'leakage' imputation (6/22/2006)

Other Nursing News:

Malaya Editorial: Screwed-up educational system (7/11/2006)

Puno cites reason for board action (7/11/2006)

CHED nursing panel quits, cites lack of will (7/8/2006)

Copyright 2006 ® Pinoy R.N. Up-to-date news, information, articles, and online forum for filipino nurses and student nurses. Updated weekly with the latest information on NCLEX, IELTS, CGFNS, Nurse Wages, Nurse Jobs, Hospital Recruitment, Direct Hiring, PRC Exam Results.

The result of the June 2006 Nurse Licensure Examination is expected to be released first week of July to major news outlets.

Pinoy R.N. will post the results online as soon as it is available.

PRC Denies Leakage on Nursing Exams

Rumors of a leakage in the nursing exam has spread like wildfire in recent weeks causing examinees to worry.

The Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) has issued a formal statement dispeling the veracity of the rumor.

In a statement sent to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the PRC said that “after an initial investigation by the Board of Nursing, the BON concluded there was no apparent leakage.”

“Unless hard evidence is found, the system is nearly fool-proof. With the actual test questions extracted by computer from a database of questions, even the examiners do not know beforehand which of their questions will be asked in the examinations. The test questions are printed inside a quarantined area with security provided by police and the National Bureau of Investigation,” the PRC said.

The PRC said that contrary to rumors, it had not cancelled the exams but was now checking the results which are expected to be released next month.

US Senate Approves Immigration Bill Removing Limit on Foreign Nurse Visas

Posted by Lyle, RN

The United States Senate recently passed a highly-debated immigration bill. The legislation covers a broad spectrum of immigration issues such as legalization of illegal immigrants and a guest worker program.

As republicans and democrats debated over immigration issues, a provision on foreign nurse immigration has been overlooked.

The overlooked provision removes the limit on the number of nurses who can immigrate to the United States which will remain in effect until 2014.

The provision is a welcome news to foreign nurses.

In the past, work-based immigration visas were limited due to the retrogression announced by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

In May 2005, US President George W. Bush signed into law the supplementary spending bill for tsunami aid and Iraq which included a rider that recaptures 50,000 unused immigrant visa numbers from 2001 to 2004 and allocating the same for foreign Registered Nurses and Physical Therapists to address the retrogression. However, New York Times reports that State Department officials predict that the allocated immigrant visas are likely to be used up by 2006.

Republican Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, who sponsored the proposal, justified the proposal as a means to address the growing shortage of nurses in US hospitals and nursing homes.

The proposal is fully supported by the American Hospital Association, which reported in April that American hospitals had 118,000 vacancies for registered nurses. The federal government projected in 2002 that the shortage of nurses in the United States would swell to more than 800,000 by the year 2020.

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