Bacolod. Rep. Monico Puentevella yesterday said he has asked the Professional Regulations Commission to explain why it has not released the test results of West Negros College students who took the recent nursing board examinations and will also seek the help of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on the matter.

He said that out of 604 examinees whose results were not released, 400 are reportedly graduates of WNC in Bacolod City.

He said some of the WNC examines accompanied by Ernesto Arbolario, WNC vice president for external affairs, met with him early this week to discuss the PRC's failure to release the results and to seek his help.

The PRC must explain why it has withheld the results and what it plans to do, Puentevella said.

In a letter to Lily Ann Rabayo, PRC regional director, Puentevella said he wants her explanation before he takes official action on the matter and if necessary elevate it to the officials concerned in a congressional inquiry.

Examinees from WNC who took the recent nursing board examinations in December are asking the PRC to release the test results it had withheld due to alleged overloading of academic courses and other discrepancies in their records.

The examinees were among the 500 graduates of West Negros College in Bacolod City who took the examinations on December 3 and 4. They are professionals who are taking nursing as their "second course."

Nelia Jesusa Lingaya-Gonzales, herself one of the examinees and also their spokesperson in Iloilo, said that PRC has the obligation to release the nursing board result. "Even those who failed have been given notice with corresponding rating. We have the right to know whether we failed or passed," she said.

Lily Ann Baldago, regional director of PRC, said a random investigation of academic records of WNC nursing graduates showed that there has been "academic overloading," or some students have been taking more academic courses than what were allowed.

Some students were said to have academic load of 40 to 46 units. "It is impossible that they can cope with that," said Baldago, herself a nurse and a former dean of the West Visayas State University College of Nursing.

There were also some problems in the sequencing of courses, she said. For example, a student was enrolled in anatomy and physiology, a pre-requisite course, in the last semester. Baldago also said that another student took three Related Learning Experience (RLE) courses, which may require hospital work, all at the same time.

Baldago had questions on 62 student records that she had endorsed to PRC and the Nursing Board in Manila. But she said that WNC examinees should wait for the official PRC letter informing them why their test results were withheld.

The PRC's permit to take the nursing licensure examination is conditional, Baldago said. One is allowed to take the examinations but if there are discrepancies in the documents submitted, the examination is cancelled after a fair hearing.

Some examinees said that while they know of some cases of overloading, not everyone did so. They said that PRC should not penalize all WNC examinees.

Dr. Enrique Grecia, regional director of the Commission on Higher Education in Central Visayas, said overloading is allowed in any degree, not just nursing, as long as the student can cope with the academic work. The school's dean decides on whether or not to allow the student to overload.

On June 11, 2003, WNC's College of Nursing dean, Dr. Zenaida Hilado, wrote Grecia, then CHED regional director for Western Visayas, asking him to allow professionals enrolled in nursing as a second degree to overload for "economic reasons." She said this is necessary so that they can finish the course in a short time. Grecia had approved the request.

Upon their completion of academic requirements, mostly in two years and two summers, the CHED issued a student order (SO) to the WNC students. The latter were also interviewed by the PRC's Board of Nursing to check up on their competency before they were given a permit to take the board examination. Some took the test in Iloilo, others in Manila and Cebu.

The PRC's Board of Nursing oversees the education and training of nurses in the Philippines.

Dr. Isabela Mahler, CHED regional director for Western Visayas, said she is waiting for the WNC to inform her about the examinees' problem. "Probably WNC and PRC can settle it," she said.

Mahler said that CHED has guidelines for allowing students to take more academic courses. The overload must not be more than six units above the regular class load and that it should be at the last year of the course.

But as many of examinees expected to pass the nursing board, not finding their names among the list of "successful examinees" was a cause of stress during the holidays. "I just want to know if I pass or fail. I'm not really in a hurry to become a nurse," said Lingaya-Gonzales, a managing partner of a law firm in Iloilo City.

But her colleagues felt otherwise. They said that some of them had already their US visa waiting, or have applied in other countries accepting Filipino nurses. Others have resigned their jobs when assigned on eight-hour duty in hospitals.

"We worked hard on this. It's not true that we had it easy," said an examinee, who is also a licensed physical therapist.

Among the examinees are physicians, lawyers, teachers, computer science graduates. A number of them are married and have been working but they see bigger promise in working as a nurse abroad.

Arbolario said that the school is behind the students and wants the issue resolved soon. "We want the PRC to release the results because a good number of our students passed. We also want our students to attend the oath-taking (of registered nurses) on January 25," said Arbolario.*MDL

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