Admission requirements for nursing programs in the Philippines

Turtle_Dog · May 1, 2008

Uhm i thought that this thread was supposed to be about admission requirements?

I should not have brought up the "schooling" thing with lindseyanne, so i think it is my fault that we went there, and i apologise. I guess i should have stayed with second part of my original post about my suggestions to the original poster.

But then again, suzanne4, i think you were reading a lot of things in my original post, which were not there in the first place, or at least i had no intentions of placing there. I believe i only clarified a part of what lindseyanne had experienced, and i have not mentioned anything else outside of that. Also I have in no way encouraged or discouraged anyone who wants to study in the Phils, or wherever they may choose, if you read my posts carefully. I am also neither defending or advocating any of the practices,events or occurrences that occur in the Nursing education and profession in the Philippines, i am making that clear now, and i have only intended to respond to the some of the posts in this thread, and to clarify what i had intended to say.

I am aware of the many threads here, not just in this particular forum, and I did take the time to read some of them, but have not yet gone through most of them, so I am taking your suggestion to read all of them, if to be better informed later on.

I am frankly taken aback by your responses, and if i may say so, you appear to be condescending in your statements. If i am mistaken about that, or have misconstrued your intent, you have my sincerest apologies.

suzanne4, RN · May 1, 2008

This thread is already over two months old, and even if one gets accepted to school there, and the better ones do not accept students from the US; there are problems with getting jobs now in the US.

And there has been much written on this very topic on this same forum and be many that are actually from the Philippines about going to school in the US if one has the chance vs attending in the Philippines.

We are also seeing rules change as far as licensure in many of the states, and if one is not a US citizen, but green card holder, then expect them to be required to write the NLE before they will be able to get licensed here. We are seeing more and more states going back to requiring it and the only ones that have the requirement waived are those with citizenship here as they are no longer permitted to write that exam.

With the major increase in students there, the training has to be going down. And I have just spent the past two years working in the largest Filipino neighborhood outside of the Philippines with a large number of nurses from there and they are more upset about that than me. I have also seen quite a few new grads come over to CA over the past year and have their contracts cancelled because of poor clinical skills so that speaks volumes on its own and the fact that it is very hard to now get placement in a hospital in CA and this was even in place before the retrogression was found to be prolonged.

When ever you discuss any training in any other place, much more needs to be considered rather than just how quick someone can get into a program. And if they can get in that quickly, then that should be more of a concern about the program to begin with as well.

Any nurse that goes to any other country to train, will always be considered a foreign-trained nurse for their entire career and always have to meet the additional requirements of that as well.

So things are never presented one sided here, but one must know what they are up against as well as the extra year that the government there is adding back into the program as it once was.

Hoss · May 2, 2008

Let me address my personal experience in admissions and curriculum up to the 3rd year so far.

I polled my children and wife extensively about their desire for nursing. I was more inclined toward their entering an engineering or bio-science program but their sincerity, animation and downright pestering of me to let them study nursing convinced me they truly had a "calling". As an American, the plan was for them to immigrate to the US or Canada (My mother was Canadian) anyway, so regardless of their degree program, that issue was settled before hand.

My concern was that having worked around critical care nurses for 25 years in medical imaging (Cath Labs, CCU's..etc) I was fully aware of the terrific stress and emotional draining that these great nurses dealt with. I wanted my family fully aware of their choice...and they have demonstrated their commitment beyond my own expectations.

Now, with the choice of nursing settled, we then RESEARCHED extensively the reputation, facilities, clinical instructors, and professors at 6 Universities and CON's. This was done over a 5 month period. I discovered that there are approximately 50 Nursing Colleges that are consistantly "top ranked" in both NLE exams and reputation by their own graduates. I leaned at that time that the other 300 or so schools had records ranging from mediocre to abysmal...yet continue to operate unfettered. I did not understand why someone would attend schools costing 50,000p /sem. without doing some basic inquiries as to the quality they could expect.

Admission exams are rigorous, and the first year these students attended class 7 days a week! The requirement for national community service was done each Sunday. Classes are 6 days a week afterwards. In addition, the loads required in Science, Math, History, ENGLISH, Bio, Social studies and Philosophy forced nightly studies and early morning (4 or 5 am wake ups) for more study! These courses were NOT taken lightly, or if you failed to take them seriously, you could not make it into your 3rd year Nursing program. It also requires at least 3 summers of study to stay abreast of the Nursing programs or you will be set back at least a full year. Also, it is expected that class groups meet after hours, on their own, and practice with their mates as often as possible. Those who do not do the extra time are doomed to failure. A class of 1,000 freshmen can whittle down to 150 during the 4-5 years by attrition. This is NOT an easy trip to a BSN by any stretch of the imagination.

IN ADDITION, Here in Luzon, you are required to trek up into deep mountain provinces on medical missions and duty cycles at very remote hospitals and clinics. You travel on bus for 8 to 12 hours one way on treacherous roads. When the road ends, you WALK the last 4 kilometers to your post. You will be exposed to very harsh living conditions and compelled to learn of many tropical diseases, ailments, child birthing, and basic health care delivery to very very poor people.

IF you are lucky, your duty schedule will put you in a fairly decent hospital for 3 to 4 days a week in a govt. facility. You will still see horrific conditions and pitiful surroundings while you attempt to gain some skill and learning in an environment most folks would raise their animal in. Thats a fact of a 3rd world country.

But to the credit of the character of the Filipino, they indeed manage to encourage those really dedicated students to sacrifice personal comfort to treat these desperately poor fellow countrymen. These students will continue to demonstrate to the world why Filipinos are wonderful nurses IF PROPERLY TRAINED and MOTIVATED!! The 50 great schools should be rewarded somehow, the poor performing schools should be shut down immediately!!

To those Filipino Nurses who "survived" and got a good education out of this system, I salute you and understand much better how frustrating this system is here. The path has been chosen and my student nurses intend to finish with honor.

Hoss:up:

suzanne4, RN · May 2, 2008

Thank you for backing up what I have been saying. 50 that are credible or so, and 300 plus that are not. We are all very aware of what is going on there in the Filipino newspapers that are available all over the Bay Area and they print anything and all that happens with nursing over there as well as the anecdotal notes that I receive from many posters here that do not want to post them publically.

Many about the patient's names and information being purchased from staff in hospital offices so that they can fill in their documents for licensure application but they have never had contact at all with the patient listed. This is no surprise to those that truly know and understand what is going on there now. And sorry to the others that are having to deal with this but it is purely unacceptable practice over here, and in other countries as well.

Hoss · May 2, 2008

I am glad that the newspapers are reporting the "cheating" that is tolerated by low performing schools. In addition, there are hundreds of Filipino trained nurses who are in management positions (both in USA and Canada) and are in a position to know where the best graduates are being taught properly. With this knowledge, many of those who got trained in marginal programs will be turned away or at the very least, monitored much more closely.

I am sure that recruiting by knowledgeable administrative nurses will focus on the 50 best schools and their students. Those schools deserve extra focus and should be rewarded with higher job placements as a result of their stricter standards and performance requirements.

Hoss

suzanne4, RN · May 2, 2008

You are right on the money once again. The Philippines is not in a vacuum and we are all very aware of what is happening there right now, probably more so than many of you are even aware of what is happening in some of the other provinces.

The world has become a much smaller place and everything is reported over here as well, and that in addition to the filipino television stations that are available here by cable. We even have one in my hospital that I am at now.

So for others here to tell me that I do not know what is going on in the Philippines, that cannot be further from the truth.

Libby_09 · May 2, 2008

Watching and reading about it is totally different from actually experiencing the situation here. News reports, conversations etc can often be sensationalized and filled with biases that can lead people outside the country to make rash generalizations on the situation here.

Yes, there are a lot more nurses and nursing students right now. But is the percentage of so-called unskilled or unprepared nurses any higher than what it was before? Is there a study to prove this hypothesis? There will always be bad apples and ill-prepared persons from any course or profession and even with the vast number of Filipinos enrolled in Nursing, is the ratio of skillful graduates any less than it was before? We can look at stats like student to nurse ratio etc all we want but it's not definitive proof at all. Most universities and colleges are getting stricter with regards to admission and retention. It only needs a few individuals and a few schools for the others to follow. No doubt a lot of change needs to be done beginning with closing low-performing schools and other drastic measures. But maybe from time to time we should look at the positive side for a change. Instead of spending all our time watching negative news about the state of the Philippines and criticizing the Philippine agencies and the government, just once maybe we should look at the positive things for a change.

Hoss · May 3, 2008

Mutilator;

My posting critical remarks about the proliferation of diploma mills and the fleecing of students with the promise of non existant jobs here and overseas is EXACTLY what is needed to correct a terrible trend in the dumbing down of Nursing education here in the Philippines. Making admissions easier, or turning failed BSN candidates into LPN's automatically is another wrong turn and is another train wreck waiting to happen at the expense of the student nurse!

I am not watching nor reading from afar, I am indeed right in the middle of this dilema and putting my money where my mouth is; I am sponsoring 4 students now in their third year of Nursing. Nor am I giving up on the system, as my nursing family is DETERMINED to meet the standards and expectations that previous Filipino Nurses have proven to the world. Instead, I am observing first hand through advertising and deceptive trade practices, and discussions with students who have been victimized by poor performing schools.

Trying to put a "positive spin" and pretend all is well will only continue to let greedy computer schools, trade schools and others to open a college of nursing with no history or knowledge of the needs of properly educating and training nursing students.

I will continue to rail against this shoddy practice in order to keep pressure on the "system" that allows greedy institutions to steal money from naive students.

When CHED closes the diploma mills down, when review centers are stopped in their tracks for making false promises, and when the BON steps up to the govt. and demands better pay and working conditions for graduate nurses......that is when this old pappa will stop his crusade on behalf of student nurses here in the Philippines.

"Evil prevails when good men stand by and do nothing!"

Hoss

dakilangpinoy1 · Oct 18, 2008

Hi,

I know of somebody who went to school in the Philippines, she studied for ayear in nursing came back with documentations and stuff. Took her NCLEX here in MN, passed as first taker. My worst fear is the patient safety issues. Now she works as a nurse and I prayed everyday that no one will be harm during her shift and soon hopefully the board of nursing will revoked her nursing license if in case she'll kill a patient down here in MN.

I went to nursing school in the Philippines for 4 years with an extensive training before I took my PRC licensure, and was so proud that I worked so hard to have had my degree with my head raise up high.

The Philippine government is so corrupt that they allow this to happened. We,as nurses deal with LIFE of human being and not dealing with guinea pigs. My blood is boiling right now.

qu86an · Feb 6, 2010

Excuse me everyone that have negative suggestions about Philippines. Yes we know that the government is corrupt. We know that the style of living there is more harsh than here. I went to school there when i was young having 50 kids in a class but hell we all learned. Compared here in the US, schools are always complaining having 30 kids in their room and not all of them learn. When I was in Philippines I had to study to keep up with the program and make it to the top. When I came here I didn't even have to study to pass. Even my exams in high school I didn't have to study. You can have 50 to 100 people in a class stop complaining cause what you learn, how you learn and how you apply it all depends on you. All my family that are nurses now all over California and Florida all finished in Philippines and are doing great. 4 or 5 years to sacrifice your self to learn is nothing compared to the many years your gonna live.