American Nurses Association Urges New Tests for Philippine Nurses

World Philippines

Published

03/05/07

ANA Urges New Tests for Philippine Nurses Seeking to Practice in the U.S.

The American Nurses Association (ANA) is urging the Philippine government to facilitate a retake of the nurse licensure exam without penalty for the nurses who passed the June 2006 examination. Following investigations by both the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) and the Philippine government, it was discovered a portion of the 500 question exam was known to a large number of examinees prior to the exam being administered.

Click to read more:

http://nursingworld.org/pressrel/2007/statementPhilippine_Nurse_Exam.pdf

My heart goes out to those who did not involve in the scandal. God knows who you are. May the spirit comfort you and guide you through. There must be something behind this issue that you and me should learn from. Stay cool, relax and I know you can do it. 3 stands for God, and 5 stands for loves U.

Ylesner

Specializes in ER, Cardiology, and GYN long ago.

Just a thought from an American nurse who has kept up with the issues that you are dealing with...

1. It is truly a horrrible situation that the honest ones amoung you are dealing with.

2. Just go ahead and do it... take the whole thing over and be assured of employment in the US to help you and your families.

3. Know that we do NOT think that you (batch 06) are all a bunch of cheaters.

4. Also know that we appreciate our Phil. nurses here. We do NOT (as a previous poster implyed) resent you or think that you decrease our wages. We are grateful for any help we can get :)

Pull up that spirit that got you through the whole process the first time and do it again. Good luck and may God bless all of you in your decision.

Being included in the June 06 batch, it was really hard to decide to retake all but I guess, that the only right thing to do, so I waived my license today. I would also like to share an email with you guys. Being confused of between the statements of CGFNS & ANA, I decided to email ANA regarding their statement, asking them if they have the same statement as CGFNS. This is their reply to my email:

Thank you for contacting the American Nurses Association (ANA) about

its recent announcement on the compromised June 2006 Philippine Nurse Exam. As noted in our letter to the Philippine Regulation Commission, ANA

considers this to be a matter of public health and safety. Absolute

integrity of the professional licensure and exam process must be

strictly maintained for purposes of public safety and confidence. ANA

also noted in the letter that it is clear that the United States has

benefited from the many excellent Philippine nurses who have come here

to practice.

ANA recognizes that these nurses are duly licensed and able to practice

within the Philippines. Our interests lie with those who wish to come

to the United States to practice nursing.

ANA understands that investigations into this matter have found that

Tests #3 and #5 were substantially compromised. However, there was

nothing that was made public that indicates that these were the only

two tests of the exam that were compromised - only that these were the most compromised. It is for this reason that the ANA Board of Directors

recommended that the entire exam be retaken. ANA is aware that the

Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) has agreed

that retaking Tests #3 and #5 is sufficient to meet their requirements

for a VisaScreen Certificate.

Each organization's position stems from a different perspective. CGFNS

is a regulatory authority. ANA's position stems from our role as the

professional association and the custodian of the U.S. Code of Ethics

for Nurses with Interpretive Statements. Provision 3.4 states that:

Nursing is responsible and accountable for assuring that only those

individuals who have demonstrated the knowledge, skill, practice

experiences, commitment, and integrity essential to professional

practice are allowed to enter into and continue to practice within the

profession.

Given The Code, ANA's perspective is that when entrusted with caring

for the public, there can be no doubt as to the qualifications of the

nurse. ANA recognizes the CGFNS' position that successful retake of Tests #3 and #5 is an acceptable remedy to meet the needs of a VisaScreen

Certificate.

Again, thank you for contacting the ANA. Please do not hesitate to

contact Cheryl Peterson, [email protected], should you have any

further questions.

Best regards,

Mary McNamara

Senior Public Relations Specialist

American Nurses Association

(301) 628-5198

[email protected]

I'm definitely going for the full retake. I passed before, I can pass it again!

Last year was a nightmare for all of us 17,000, and a lot of people took advantage of it. Now that another problem is arising, it's time to let go of false hopes, and do what is truly required of us: that we prove our worth by passing another set of exams!

Besides, the American Nursing Association is a highly respectable organization. They are definitely not powerless, they are highly influential, and it would take more than stubborness to make them go back on their word.

A full retake is the ultimate statement, and I'm not afraid to take it.

a full retake is the ultimate statement, and i'm not afraid to take it.

i commend your act! :nuke: and i pray the same courage that you have, for all those who will retake the nle either full or partial. :saint:

i agree, we really feel bad about the whole thing. as much as we cannot stop other people to judge us or tell their opinion, it hurts that we batch june2006 looks like a bunch of cheaters, and instead of just being victims. lucky for you guys your'e all there and earning, but we are still here battling our way. that exam is not enough to measure our competence, not enough to measure our dignity, not enough to be laughed at and say that we are cowards for not retaking the "tainted" exams. i passed the nclex exam and passed at 75. does that mean i am competent enough to be a nurse in the states but incompetent in the philippines because we refuse to retake initally? before, they would issue visa screen even if we did not take the locals, we dont know why they are making a very big fuss on our local license just now, even if california doesnt need it in the first place. yes, there are lots of politics in this retake issue not just here in the philippines but also in the US. we are retaking not to prove that it will sweep the doubts of those who measures our capacity. but we are doing it for our family who are clinging in our arms to give them a good future. after all these, it becomes a history, no one will remember if you topped the exam, rather, how many people you were able to help during your nursing career...

To be fair, I think no one here has ever said nor even implied that the June batch are cheaters and no one here is crucifying any nurse from that batch.

People here may have discussed about the short-comings of certain Phil. organizations, why a re-take would be better (partial or whole) and so on and so forth but I assure you, you won't read anything here that someone has ever said anything about June 2006 nurses as being cheaters as it is understood both in the Philippines and in abroad that only a few did and no one can ever pin-point who did.

You may read that on other websites, blogs or chat rooms but never here, I assure you that. We don't permit such thing here ;)

You know what, I feel our June 2006 batch are cursed. It was a nightmare and still is. I don't know how many times must we be crucified for everyone's satisfaction. Only a handful was guilty of the sin and yet all of us must sacrificed. It feels like being fed in the lion's den. We are already resigned to the fact that we must take the test 3 and 5 again just to fulfill our dreams of working in the US just so we could help our family from the gutter of poverty. And yet, you keep on rubbing salt to our injury. None of us uttered any story of our sufferings. Did you know that there is this one examinee who lost her child coz she was pregnant that time due to stress after the breakout of this nightmare. She couldn't sleep after that, looking for a way out of this mess who would accept our batch in the internet. Not prejudging us, crucifying us. I guess, she found none but she was braved enough to keep going because she still has another child to think about. We all want to move on. Lucky are you, you did not suffer like we had. Lucky are you, that you could sleep soundly and get up again and have a good paying job while 17,000 are still struggling from this nightmare. We are already confused as it is, but we have the guts to move on without you people ranting about our misfortunes. We are not looking for pity nor are we soliciting empathy with anyone. Thank you if you do empathized with us if not, we appreciate a nonjudgmental comment. You do not know us, It was not our fault that this chaos skyrocketted. We were passionate at that time not to retake for the wound was fresh and our pride was hurt. But we humbled ourselves for the sake of our family and took the bitter pill with humour so let it die at that. Give us back our dignity and try not to trumple on it too much for you do not know the whole story. Remember? there are always two sides on the story. Thank you.

thank you. i totally agree.

Specializes in MedSurg.-Tele, Home health, LTC.
Just a thought from an American nurse who has kept up with the issues that you are dealing with...

1. It is truly a horrrible situation that the honest ones amoung you are dealing with.

2. Just go ahead and do it... take the whole thing over and be assured of employment in the US to help you and your families.

3. Know that we do NOT think that you (batch 06) are all a bunch of cheaters.

4. Also know that we appreciate our Phil. nurses here. We do NOT (as a previous poster implyed) resent you or think that you decrease our wages. We are grateful for any help we can get :)

Pull up that spirit that got you through the whole process the first time and do it again. Good luck and may God bless all of you in your decision.

I totally agree....I'm getting sick and tired of doing overtime...we need extra help really, really bad !!

A friend wants to ask. For example, I am a June 2006 passer. Then I retake tests 3 and 5 but fail, what will happen to me?

If you fail you are in deep shi+, if you wish to get the VS, you would need to waive your license for a second try (however, it is full retake).

Best to take the bitter pill quick!

ANA recommendation grossly unfair!

Specializes in geriatric nursing.

well, it is fair... better take the bitter pill if you really want to go to US... you have a choice...

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