Filipino nurses taking US licensure exam down by 30%

The number of Filipino nurses seeking to practice their profession in the United States plunged by one-third during the first half of 2010 compared to the same period last year. Based on a mid-year report by the US’ National Council of State Boards of Nursing, only 5,533 Filipino nurses took the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) as of June 2010, or more than 30 percent lower from the 8,272 examinees during the same period last year. The NCLEX is the licensure examination for nurses in the US, administered to registered nurses and licensed practical or vocational nurses. The Philippines, however, remains the top country where most of the examinees come from this year, followed by India, South Korea, Canada and Puerto Rico. Last year, the Philippines was also the top country with over 15,000 examinees. "The number of Filipino nurses taking the NCLEX for the first time is a reliable indicator as to how many of them are trying to enter the profession in the US," said Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) secretary general Ernesto Herrera in a statement. He said Manila-based labor recruitment agencies previously reported that more Filipino nurses are now leaving for the United Kingdom than for the US. "Filipino nurses and other highly skilled professionals will go to foreign labor markets where it is easier for them to enter and work, and where they will get the best reward in terms of pay and other benefits," Herrera said. He however said more Filipino nurses are still seeking employment in the US than elsewhere owing to a "strong cultural attachment" to the former colonizer. "The two biggest suppliers of foreign nurses in the UK are actually India and Australia, which is not surprising since both are former British territories. After them, the Philippines is now Britain's third biggest supplier of foreign nurses," Herrera said, citing statistics from the UK's Nursing and Midwifery Council. A total of 15,382 Filipino nurses took the NCLEX for the first time in 2009, down 5,364 or 26 percent from 20,746 in 2008. In 2007, a total of 21,499 Filipino nurses took the NCLEX, up 6,328 or 42 percent from 15,171 in 2006. The 2006 figures meanwhile were up 65 percent or 5,990 compared to the 9,181 Filipino nurses who took the NCLEX in 2005. All in all, some 82,000 Filipino nurses took the NCLEX for the first time over the last five years. - KBK, GMANews.TV