ddkted

After a couple of possible reasons why the NCLEX is not conducted in the Philippines, it remains clear that it will help not only Filipino Nurses but the American healthcare facilities for the NCSBN to approve the holding of the exams in the Philippines. There are, I'm sure, institutions that will uphold the integrity of the NCLEX exams. What I have realized in the recent days is that there were more discussions on why we are failing and not on how we could show that we deserve a test center. Although I admit that these (discussions) too are healthy, is it not about time that we dedicate our energies to writing the NCSBN that we and they need to have a test center in our country? Mabuhay and best regards, ddKted

Thanks Salonika for the reply. I agree with you that there are those selfish people and that we do not have the monopoly on foreign nurses. I also agree that we cannot afford for the NCLEX exams to be scandalized, and that there are still those who "strive to be credible before the world". I will comment however that the NCLEX computer adaptive tests are conducted online in real time by Pearson VUE, an American company. Test centers are but "extension facilities" that provide the examination booths where the computer hardwares are located. The tests are fed online from Pearson VUE offices outside of the Philippines and are only seen and worked on by the examinees. And because of the nature of the exam (CAT), no two tests are alike. Test results are known before the examinee leaves the test center. This system will precisely stop those selfish people and prevent the exams to be scandalized. Furthermore it will be a big help to many of our poor kababayans. Best regards, ddkted

Hi, I'm DDkted and this is my very first posting. After the US National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) decided to allow NCLEX testing outside the US, several countries in Asia are now conducting these tests. The Philippines is not one of them. Filipino nurses have to go to Hong Kong or Seoul or Taipei, a vast improvement from when they have to go to either Guam or Saipan. I do not believe that this could be because of the fiasco in the most recent (2005) Philippine Board of Nursing examinations, first because the decision to hold NCLEX outside the continental US & its territories was done well before 2005 and second, the NCLEX exams are computer adaptive tests (CAT). While it is true that nursing schools in the Philippines have mushroomed, and the quality of nursing education may have gone down, this should not deter the NCSBN from conducting NCLEX CAT in the Philippines. It is precisely these examinations that serve as the "quality control" for Nurses going to the US. Conducting NCLEX in the Philippines will, in my view, tremendously help prevent nursing schools from being mere diploma mills preying on unsuspecting Filipinos. It will also make it more affordable to qualified nurses who with the present system have to spend a lot of money (which most don't have) and time going through a lengthy process----Philippine Board/CGFNS/English Proficiency exams/Visa Screen/ NCLEX. One more point is the fact that a lot of our neighbors come to our country to "learn English". I am sure that the integrity of the NCLEX computer adaptive tests can and will be maintained, and there will more qualified nurses who can help solve the nursing shortage the US is faced with for years now. I suggest that we write the National Council of State Boards of Nursing or the individual state boards on this issue. Best regards to all. DDkted