New Yorker looking to attend nursing school in The Philippines

Advanced Practice Columnist / Guide · Oct 20, 2009

Just to get back on tracK:

The OP is a US citizen and wants to practice in the US

The OP, and many others interested in studying in the Philippines are well aware of the fact that there are terrible nursing schools in the Philippines. I think this forum definitely does a great job pointing that out. Even if we say that only 50% of foreign examinees from the Philippines pass the NCLEX, these studies did not quantify which examinees graduated from the schools that still keep a high degree of educational standards. Numbers are just numbers, it takes a smart person to analyze what the numbers mean. The bright new grad from UP Manila can easily beat the average new grad from Big Bear Community College in Small Town USA in a hypothetical Nursing Quize Bee in my opinion.

It is already discussed ad nauseam that foreign nursing program grads have more requirements to contend with before being eligible to take the NCLEX. This means a longer wait to take the test.

Now, I hope we just let the OP decide on his own and quit this back and forth nonesense.

Hushdawg · Oct 21, 2009

The OP, and many others interested in studying in the Philippines are well aware of the fact that there are terrible nursing schools in the Philippines. I think this forum definitely does a great job pointing that out.

This is why anytime I get to talk to prospective nurses that are shopping for nurse colleges here I urge them to check out the passing rate for the universities they are checking out which are published by PRC.

Normally I don't use passing rates as a litmus test for ANYTHING but this is one exception; why? Because EVERY graduate of a nursing school will take the local board and it is PRC that is calculating the numbers with ZERO forgiveness.

Therefore the school cannot manipulate the figures the same way that review schools do.

Even if we say that only 50% of foreign examinees from the Philippines pass the NCLEX, these studies did not quantify which examinees graduated from the schools that still keep a high degree of educational standards. Numbers are just numbers, it takes a smart person to analyze what the numbers mean. The bright new grad from UP Manila can easily beat the average new grad from Big Bear Community College in Small Town USA in a hypothetical Nursing Quize Bee in my opinion.

Overall passing rate for local board in the Philippines is hovering between 40 and 50%

Of those, roughly 70-80% go on to take NCLEX within the following 24 months.

Of those, roughly 45% are passing NCLEX.

NCSBN has done studies about the lapse of time between graduating nursing school and the effect on one's ability to pass NCLEX. It is conclusive that a nurse, even one educated in the USA, risks failing NCLEX by waiting too long to take the exam.

This is broken down to a statistical progression of roughly 10% per month of lapse.

Literally, if you wait 6 months to take NCLEX then statistically you only have a 40% chance of passing according to these studies.

However, you are completely correct in this Gilly, no study so far has evaluated the NCLEX passing mean of individual nursing schools in the Philippines.

The only real evaluation is the local board numbers from PRC and even those do not take into account the nurses who are taking local board within 6 months of graduation versus those who have waited until the next test administration.

Typically in the Philippines, if you graduate in October then you take Local Boards in November, if you graduate in April then you take local boards in May.

Unfortunately now it takes nearly 6 months to actually get your license once you have your passing results so this means that Philippine nurses are not even able to begin the US Licensure application process until more than 6 months beyond graduation.

So that means that given NCSBN's statistics, the Pinoy nurse only has a 40% chance of passing NCLEX at the time he or she begins the application process... let alone the wait that one has to receive eligibility and then register to take the exam.

Given all the odds and variables, when you calculate on paper the nurses in the Philippines only have a statistical probability of 23.71% of passing NCLEX (allowing for the average application processing time of 6 months beyond application date).

Bearing that in mind, I find it a testament to those who DO pass NCLEX for their skill and knowledge and the Pinoy nurse in general since a 45% passing rate proven is far greater than would be expected when crunching the numbers.

There ARE garbage schools everywhere. The only difference is that in the Philippines schools continue to function that would have been shut down elsewhere.

Fortunately for the population that would be cared for by nurses, these garbage schools only pass a handful of students beyond the local board phase and those educated will never see the USA hospitals as a place of employment; let alone Philippine hospitals.

This forum can serve as a guidepost for those planning to take up nursing by informing prospective Nursing students about schools to stay away from. Every 6 months someone can easily post the passing rates from PRC for all the schools in the Philippines.

Hushdawg · Oct 21, 2009

Top Nursing Schools for June 2009

Based on June 2009 Nurse Board Exam Results, the top nursing schools are:

100 and more examinees

Rank Nursing School Total Number of Examinees Total Number of Passed Percentage Passed 1 SAINT PAUL UNIVERSITY-DUMAGUETE 112 112 100% 2 CHINESE GENERAL HOSPITAL COLLEGE OF NURSING & LIBERAL ARTS 198 196 99%

SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY 303 299 99%

TRINITY UNIVERSITY OF ASIA (TRINITY-QC) 393 390 99%

UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS 479 472 99%

WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY-LA PAZ 150 149 99% 3 UNIVERSITY OF THE EAST RAMON MAGSAYSAY MEM. MEDICAL CTR. 319 313 98%

30 to 99 examinees

Rank Nursing School Total Number of Examinees Total Number of Passed Percentage Passed 1 UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES-MANILA 61 61 100% 2 PHILIPPINE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY-MANILA 36 32 89% 3 SAINT PAUL UNIVERSITY-QUEZON CITY 59 51 86%

For example... :)

The total rankings for November 2008 Exam is here: http://www.prc.gov.ph/documents/NURS1108ps.pdf

Total rankings for June of 2009 Exam: http://www.prc.gov.ph/documents/NURS0609ps.pdf

Hushdawg · Oct 21, 2009

In all fairness regarding passing rate for foreign grads as 50%, I believe part of it is the language barrier. English isn't their first language in most cases so it's harder for them. I don't care if your education was done in English. Just because your books were in English doesn't mean that English was 100% spoken all the time. I'm sure there were the few exceptions.

This doesn't really apply to the Philippines.

English is a secondary language for this country.

One of the reasons it has been taking so long for me to learn Tagalog (and why some foreigners living here never learn a single word) is because you can conduct business and life perfectly fine in English.

For city-dwelling Pinoys, English can very well be a first language since it has been taught in the schools here starting in first grade ever since America invaded the Islands in the late 1800s.

English Only Policies in workplaces and many schools actually penalize those who speak in any other language, some in severe ways.

So the lack of English is why Korean, Indian and Vietnamese nurses are not passing NCLEX well; but not Pinoys.

Actually, if you speak to most of the nurses taking NCLEX here from Manila as frequently as I do you'd swear that English WAS their first language!

Hushdawg · Oct 21, 2009

In all fairness regarding passing rate for foreign grads as 50%, I believe part of it is the language barrier.

Just to debunk this myth once and for all...

Look at the 2006 data for NCLEX where the international nurses are broken down country by country.

That year the Philippines had a passing rate of 58.5%

The UK passing rate was 60%

Ireland was 62.5%

New Zealand was 61.5

China was 65.5%

Chinese Nursing schools do not educate in English.

I think it is finally fair to say that English is not as big a factor as some would think.

Data source: https://www.ncsbn.org/08_2006_LicExamRB_Vol31_21208_MW%281%29.pdf

Pages 31 - 35

By the way...

New Hampshire's passing rate was only 60% that year

DC's was only 55%

So can we finally just say that an NCLEX-passing Licensed RN is the same no matter where he or she may come from?

Ginger's Mom, MSN, RN · Oct 21, 2009

When I look at that report, I see DC 85.7% and NH 88.9% for the total year, I believe you are looking at quarterly reports not the annual numbers. See page 30.

Hushdawg · Oct 23, 2009

When I look at that report, I see DC 85.7% and NH 88.9% for the total year, I believe you are looking at quarterly reports not the annual numbers. See page 30.

Absolutely right. My mistake.

However, when you look at the US territories I think you'll see a trend mirroring international nurses. Bear in mind that residents of US territories are treated as US citizens and don't get put under the same scrutiny as foreign nurses.

My point still stands though since foreign nurses from English-Speaking nations don't seem to fare much better in NCLEX passing rate as those from anywhere else.

Ginger's Mom, MSN, RN · Oct 24, 2009

Absolutely right. My mistake.
However, when you look at the US territories I think you'll see a trend mirroring international nurses. Bear in mind that residents of US territories are treated as US citizens and don't get put under the same scrutiny as foreign nurses.
My point still stands though since foreign nurses from English-Speaking nations don't seem to fare much better in NCLEX passing rate as those from anywhere else.

The UK and other English Speaking nursing programs don't mirror US curriculum, this makes these English Speaking nurses at a disadvantage taking a US based exam. My understanding is that the Philippine nursing schools mirror US programs.

The NCLEX is not the sole indicator of making a successful nurse. The nurses clinical experiences during school, the experience of their clinical instructors, and the resources the program has all help to shape a nurse. In my opinion, nurses who wish to practice nursing should go to school in the country they wish to practice. That is a tried and true recipe for success.

Hushdawg · Oct 24, 2009

The NCLEX is not the sole indicator of making a successful nurse.

Then why do so many people on here (present company included) point to the low-NCLEX passing rate as an indicator of poor-quality nursing?

The top-level Philippine nursing schools prepare nurses just as well as US schools do.

The OP may have challenges in licensure and endorsement for his career but he will also get the chance to have a high quality education for a fraction of the cost that he would have to pay in the USA for a BSN.

If you want to argue that some nursing schools in RPH need to be shut down.. hey, I'm on your side for that one. But don't throw the baby out with the bath water.

rn4ever? · Oct 24, 2009

I think that so much has already been said about the alleged decline of the quality of the Nursing education in the Philippines. I still think that it's hard to generalize because one's success is still dependent on the person if he wants to do well or not in school and also on the choices he makes. Also, other people's opinions regarding the alleged decline of the quality of the Nursing education in the Philippines cannot be really considered as valid because they themselves didn't experience it. They just read about it somewhere or someone just told someone about it and it was relayed to them.

The OP is deciding whether or not to pursue his Nursing education in the Philippines. That said, I believe that it would be helpful to post your story if you are either: someone who studied BSN in the Philippines fairly recently and had a real hard time having your documents evaluated and/or was unable to work in the US because your school documents were questionable, or you are someone who studied BSN in the Philippines fairly recently and was able to have your school documents evaluated without issues and/or was able to work in the US as an RN.

Ginger's Mom, MSN, RN · Oct 26, 2009

Then why do so many people on here (present company included) point to the low-NCLEX passing rate as an indicator of poor-quality nursing?
The top-level Philippine nursing schools prepare nurses just as well as US schools do.
The OP may have challenges in licensure and endorsement for his career but he will also get the chance to have a high quality education for a fraction of the cost that he would have to pay in the USA for a BSN.
If you want to argue that some nursing schools in RPH need to be shut down.. hey, I'm on your side for that one. But don't throw the baby out with the bath water.

NCLEX is the bare bone basic for one to be licensed at as nurse. It is one metric ( of many metrics) to determine the success of a school.

Agencies like the NLN, State Board Of Nursing, and The Sigma Theta Tau International judge the qualities of a nursing program. Also colleges have to have an overall accredition through their regional accrediation body.

Advanced Practice Columnist / Guide · Nov 2, 2009

The Sigma Theta Tau International judge the qualities of a nursing program.

Where did you get this information? STTI Honor Society of Nursing doesn't even have chapters in colleges that only offer the ADN programs. I am an STTI Lambda Chapter member but I am the first to say that this organization is "elitist" and only has chapters in BSN-granting institutions in the US and internationally. STTI is NOT an accrediting board although they do give awards to certain chapters based in nursing schools for exemplary performance. It would be a good marketing tool for some Philippine nursing schools to seek chapter approval for STTI though.