Junk 5-year Plan for Nursing

Senator Chiz Escudero said Saturday that the long white line of nurses seeking employment can be shortened if the Commission on Higher Education focuses on improving the quality of nursing education instead of lengthening the course to five years.

“I am against adding another year for nursing, or for any other course,” the senator said in a press statement yesterday.

“Our nurses are being praised all over the world. Why in the world does CHED want to change what is not broken?” he asked.

Escudero said the CHED should instead weed out diploma mills that have proliferated due to the increase in the number of students wanting to take up nursing. He also called for stricter supervision of nursing review centers.

Echoing the call of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines and the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations against the CHED plan, Escudero said making nursing a five-year course would mean an additional financial burden to parents and students, the press release added.

He also said that parents set aside a budget for the education of their children. Based on current figures each nursing student needs about P100,000 annually for matriculation plus textbooks, excluding review courses. Adding another year to the course makes it more expensive, he pointed out.

Escudero also called for a moratorium on tuition, miscellaneous and other fees, noting that most nursing colleges also have compulsory in-house review courses that are paid for separately by students.

Meanwhile, based on a report done by CHED and the Professional Regulatory Commission, only 12 out of the top 175 nursing schools in the country had a passing rate of 90 percent or higher during the period 2000-2004.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the passing average for the Nursing Licensure Exam was 80-90 percent. But in 2008, only 44.51 percent, or 39,455 out of 88,649 examinees, passed, the press release also said.

Article Source: Visayandailystar.com

Read more...

No to 5-year Nursing

MANILA, Philippines—Senator Francis Escudero on Saturday opposed the plan by the Commission on Higher Education to extend the nursing education from four years to five years.

“I am against adding another year for nursing, or for any other course,” the senator said in a statement e-mailed to media outfits.

“Our nurses are being praised all over the world. Why in the world does CHED want to change what is not broken?” he asked.

Escudero said CHED should instead weed out diploma mills that have proliferated due to the increase in the number of nursing students. He also called for stricter supervision of nursing review centers.

Echoing the call of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines and the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations against the CHED plan, Escudero said making nursing a five-year course would mean an additional financial burden to parents and students.

“Parents set aside a budget for the education of their children. Based on current figures each nursing student needs about P100,000 annually for matriculation plus textbooks, excluding review courses. Adding another year to the course makes it more expensive,” the senator pointed out.

At the same time, Escudero also called for a moratorium on increases in tuition, miscellaneous, and other fees, noting that most nursing colleges also have compulsory in-house review courses that are paid for separately by students.

Meanwhile, based on a report done by CHED and the Professional Regulatory Commission, only 12 out of the top 175 nursing schools in the country had a passing rate of 90 percent or higher during the period 2000-2004.

In the 1970s and the 1980s, the passing average for the Nursing Licensure Exam was 80 to 90 percent. But in 2008, only 44.51 percent, or 39,455 out of 88,649 examinees, passed.

“The nursing profession in the Philippines has yet to recover from the 2006 leakage case. This is a symptom of the long-standing deterioration of our nursing education. The CHED must not focus on facilitating the commercialization of the profession and instead make it less difficult for those wanting to take it up,” Escudero said.

Article Source: Inquirer.net

Read more...

OnlineReviewer.com

This site offers reviews for EE, ECE, ME, NURSING.

OnlineReviewer.com is affiliated with some review centers. Enroll in a partner review center and automatically get a free premium subscription.

Note: Board-Exam-Review.Blogspot.com is not affiliated with Onlinereviewer.com

Read more...

Best Engineering Review Center

Which is the best engineering review center? How do I choose the best board exam review center?

I previously said that I am not endorsing any particular review center. I am also not going to mention which review center I attended when I was preparing for my own ChE Board Exams in the Philippines.

I have no idea which is "the best" because each review center has its own strengths. Each review center might be better on some subjects or courses. Each review center might perform well in one year but perform poorly the next.

From my experience, the review center played big role in preparing for my own board exams. Having said that, my advice is: Due diligence is required to select the review center that is best fit for the reviewer's needs. One should not easily take anybody's word as to which is the best.

I have outlined several tips on how to choose the Best Board Exam Review Center depending on one's needs.

Read more...

Review Centers Still Not Under CHEd

SC orders status quo.

MANILA, Philippines -- The Supreme Court has ordered that the status quo be maintained on the supervision of review centers for professional licensure examinations.

The high court resolution, issued in connection with a case filed by the Review Center Association of the Philippines Inc. (RECAP) means review centers will, for the time being, not be placed under the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) as mandated by Executive Order No. 566.

"The Court resolved to require the parties to observe the status quo prevailing before the issuance of the assailed Executive Order No. 566, the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (RIRRs) Governing the Establishment and Operation of Review Centers and Similar Entities in the Philippines, and Memorandum Order No. 21, Series of 2008," the resolution said.

EO 566, signed September 8, 2006, directs the CHEd to regulate the establishment and operation of review centers to protect all licensure examines from unethical practices committed by some review centers.

RECAP, an organization of independent review centers, asked the high court to issue a temporary restraining order on the implementation of the EO and RIRRs.

It said Republic Act 7722, or CHEd's charter, limits CHEd's authority to public and private institutions of higher education, and to degree-granting programs in all post-secondary education institutions.

Review centers are not institutions of higher education, RECAP said.

It added that RIRRs "practically coerce, on pain of extinction, independent review centers to lose their identities and enter into some kind of a bilateral or multi-lateral agreement with higher education institutions (HEIs) or consortia of HEIs, to get accredited by the CHED and continue operating as review centers."

EO 566 was issued following the scandal triggered by the discovery that questions to that year’s nursing licensure examination had been leaked, alleged by a review center.

See link to article source

Read more...

Nursing Online Readiness Test

Just found this site while browsing through nursing review resources. I personally don't know anybody who has availed of their services. For those who want to give feedback about this company, kindly send me a note.

http://www.nursetest.com.ph

Read more...

Board Exam Review Center

For the recent college graduates who are going to take their respective board exams, the review center is one of the ways to help them prepare. But not all review centers are created equal. I have outlined some tips on what to consider in choosing a review center.

Note: I am not endorsing any particular review center. I am also not going to mention which review center I attended when I was preparing for my own ChE Board Exams in the Philippines.

1. Check the review center's track record. How many students attend their review center and how many eventually pass the board exams? The percentage passing rate by far is the most important indicator in my opinion.

Review centers usually have several courses offered for various board exams. And a review center's track record may be variable: it may be good at one course but not good at another course.

2. Check the review center's faculty roster. Most of the review center teachers are also instructors and professors in colleges and universities. Ask around if anybody recognizes any of the teachers and if they are good.



3. Check the review center's course outline. Check if the subjects covered are complete and the depth of discussion is comprehensive. Check if they can advise which topics to review in depth and which topics to just review in summary.

4. Check if the review center shares sample exams and schedules mock exams that help simulate the look and feel of the actual board exams.

5. Check the review center's class size. A very big class size will reduce the focus on each individual's learning process. But a small class size may mean the review center is not known to deliver.

6. Check for any discounts for honor students. Review centers give discounts (even free classes) for honor students because honor students have a high probability to pass and even become board topnotchers. These give good publicity to the review center.



7. Check the price with respect to the amount of time spent to provide effective coaching and guidance. Cheap review centers might be due to lack of good teachers. But expensive review centers do not automatically mean they have an effective system.Price is usually a big factor for a lot students. So extra care is needed to make sure the review center is "legit" and not just after one's money.

8. Check which review centers are being considered by friends and batchmates. Group effort provides an advantage over doing everything solo. Moreover, group study sessions after the review classes can help validate what was learned for the day.

Original post last Dec. 1, 2008 by Buzzerzeeser
http://buzzerbeeser.blogspot.com/2008/12/board-exam-review-center.html

Read more...

My Wife's Board Exam Experience

Speaking for myself, review centers really help prepare graduates for the board exams. However, my wife has a different view regarding the need to attend a review center.

Back in 2001, she was preparing to take the LET (Licensure Examination for Teachers) for Elementary and Secondary Level specializing on Physical Education. Passing the LET was the requirement to teach in elementary and high school in the Philippines.

So what happened was that after she signed up to attend a review center, her friends convinced her not to attend. Her friends told her a story about one of their common friends who did not attend a review center and still passed. Apparently, they did not have a high regard for this friend, and he became their benchmark:

"Eh kung si XX nga pumasa, lasing pa yun nung nag exam yun? Bakit ka pa mag re-review?" (Loosely translated: Why do you need to attend a review center, when on the other hand, Mr XX passed without it? He even took the exam while he was drunk!)

Ultimately, my wife listened to her friends and did not attend the review center. She still studied hard, but only by herself. The result was, she passed the exams.

Original post last Dec. 1, 2008 by Buzzerzeeser
http://buzzerbeeser.blogspot.com/2008/12/my-wifes-board-exam-experience.html

Read more...

My Own Board Exam Experience

Previously, I just wrote about my cousin who took the Nursing Board Exam. The results are not out yet so we will be anxiously waiting.

It reminded me of my own experience. I myself took the Board Exam for Chemical Engineering. Last 2000, at around May, about a month after I graduated college, I already started working. So during the weekday I was working at the office, and during the weekends I was attending the board exam review center. So my schedule is pretty tight with little time for other things.

The chemical engineering exam is not easy with lots of subjects covered. There's the science and mathematics subjects. There's the general engineering and also there's the chemical engineering specific topics - I won't delve too much on the details.

To cut the long story short, I took the Chemical Engineering Board Exams last November 2000 and passed. I am now a licensed Chemical Engineer in the Philippines. It felt really good to receive the Professional ID and to realize that all the hard work had finally paid off.

Original post last Dec. 1, 2008 by Buzzerzeeser
http://buzzerbeeser.blogspot.com/2008/12/my-own-board-exam-experience.html

Read more...

Nursing Board Exams

I just read last Saturday in the Philippine Star that there were around 90,000 graduates who will be taking (already took) the Nursing Board exams last weekend. My cousin was one of them. He had been thinking about these fateful days for months now, knowing better that this was the second hurdle he needed to overcome to be able to achieve his dreams of becoming a registered nurse and work in the States (the first hurdle was of course to graduate college).

The Philippine nursing board exams had generated some noise in the recent past due to some controversy about "exams leakage". I'm sure a lot was already written about this already. I just mentioned it now because for the current exams, the BON (Board of Nursing) has assured everyone that this time it is surely "tamper and leak proof". I sure hope so. Because any news of cheating would definitely compromise the integrity of this nursing batch.

I know for a fact that the nursing board is not an easy exam. Besides memorizing medical and scientific terms, they also have to internalize a lot of nursing related concepts. Based on my cousin's feedback to me after he took the exam, around 90% of the exam questions were not covered in their review center! He called them "out of this world" questions. During the exam days, he met someone who was already an registered med tech and doctor. According to his friend, this exam was by far the hardest of the three. Due to the fact that the questions have no easy answer - like all the choices in the multiple choice column were equally correct/incorrect.

Anyway, hopefully my cousin will pass his exams. The PRC said that due to the large amount of examiners in this batch, the results will come out a little later than before - probably sometime February 2009.

Original post last Dec. 1, 2008 by Buzzerzeeser
http://buzzerbeeser.blogspot.com/2008/12/nursing-board-exams.html

Read more...