The Professional Regulations Commission and the Commission on Higher Education will not allow all of the 460 West Negros College nursing graduates to get their much-awaited board examination results.

Rep. Ignacio Arroyo (Neg. Occ., 5th district) yesterday said PRC chairperson Leonor Tripon-Rosero told him that only the board examination results of WNC nursing graduates who had taken 30 units and below a semester will be released.

However, those who took above 30 units a semester will have to go back to school, Rosero said.

Rosero told the DAILY STAR yesterday that they are segregating the examination papers of the WNC students who only had 30 units and below, and hope to release their results within the week.

It will be up to WNC to identify the subjects taken over the load limit, which their students will have to take again, she added.

Arroyo said he also spoke to CHED head Carlito Puno who said he was aware of the PRC decision and concurred with it.

President Gloria Arroyo had earlier instructed the PRC and CHED to hasten action on the problem of the WNC graduates.

WNC nursing dean Zenaida Hilado yesterday said that, of the 460 WNC graduates waiting for their board examination results, only about 200 had taken 30 units and below in a semester.

That means about 260 WNC graduates may have to go back to school for having taken more than 30 units in a semester.

Hilado said she has not received a copy of the PRC decision yet but that WNC would contest it.

She pointed out that the CHED had given all the WNC graduates who took the board examinations in December special orders to do so. Hilado, who said many of their nursing students are second degree takers, added that those who took more than 30 units did so for a reason and did not violate CHED requirements.

Those who took 42 units a semester were "isolated" cases, she added.

Hilado pointed out that under CHED Memo 147 series of 2001 the approval of the overloading is delegated by the CHED to the higher education institutions. This means the dean of a school is authorized to approve overloads of students, subject sequencing, substitution and accreditation of units earned, she pointed out.

'LET US MOVE ON'

Let us move on, release our board examination results.

This was the cry yesterday of 127 West Negros College nursing graduates who filed another petition for mandamus before the Regional Trial Court of Bacolod City to demand the release of the results of the nursing board examinations they took in December.

Named respondents were the PRC represented by Rosero and regional director Dr. Lily Ann Baldago, and the Board of Nursing represented by its chairperson Dr. Eufemia Octaviano and its members Remedios Fernandez, Letty Kuan and Anesia Dionisio.

Earlier 146 WNC graduates in Iloilo filed two petitions for mandamus before the Iloilo RTC, and about 57 graduates from Cebu filed a similar petition before the Cebu City RTC against the PRC and the BON.

Yesterday about 50 WNC graduates from Iloilo were in Bacolod to lend their moral support to their classmates who had gone to the Bacolod RTC to file their petition for mandamus, Nelia Gonzales, the spokesperson for the Iloilo group, said.

The petition for mandamus, filed for them by lawyers Leon Moya and Josie Ibañez, asked the court to order PRC and BON to immediately release their exam results.

It also asked that those who passed be allowed to take their oath as professional nurses.

'WE WORKED HARD'

WNC nursing graduate Annie Lizares of Bacolod City said all they want is the release of their examination results.

Lizares said the delay in the release of their results has caused them sleepless nights and low self-esteem.

Studying to become nurses has been expensive and difficult, we are very frustrated because we fulfilled all the requirements and still do not know what the results of our examinations are, she said.

WNC nursing graduate Leah Guevarra said they worked hard to fulfill all the requirements to become nurses and even skipped meals while on duty at hospitals to use their money to help indigent patients.

Sally Tubid said her nursing graduate daughter Christy was looking for a job but is uncertain about her future because she does not know yet how she did in the nursing board examinations.

Tubid said it costs about P300,000 to put her daughter through nursing school and about P40,000 to prepare and take the board examinations.

I want to know what PRC's decision is because I have two other children studying to be nurses at WNC who are also about to graduate, Tubid said.

Alma Bahil, an accounting graduate who studied to become a nurse at WNC, said she sprained her right ankle going to WNC to follow up the status of her board examination and has not had time to see a doctor because she has devoted her time to following up the release of her test results.

Helen Uy said she even woke up at 3 a.m. to go to the Silay hospital in the midst of a storm to complete her scrubs requirements.

We worked hard to fulfill our hospital work requirements, it is not fair that our examination results are being withheld, she said.

Many of the students said they and their families sacrificed and suffered for them to finish their nursing courses, and some of them had to go into debt to pay their tuition fees.*CPG

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