More Pinoy nurses seeking US jobs

The number of Filipino nurses who sought employment in the US in the first quarter of 2007 nearly doubled the number of those who did in same period in 2006, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said over the weekend. TUCP’s Alex Aguilar said 5,076 Philippine-educated nurses took the National Council Licensure Examination for registered nurses (NCLEX) in first quarter of 2007 as against the 2,711 in the same period in 2006. The NCLEX is final step in nursing licensure process in the US. The US National Council of State Boards of Nursing administers the examination. The number of NCLEX examinees is "a good indicator" of how many US, as well as foreign nursing graduates, are trying to enter the profession in that country, Aguilar said. He said the Philippines with 5,076 examinees tops all five countries with biggest number of first-time NCLEX examinees in the first quarter. India came next with 1,384; South Korea followed with 600; then Canada with 201; and last Cuba with168. The Philippines still has "a huge surplus of qualified nurses ready for foreign deployment, including those who passed previous licensure examinations in past years," Aguilar said. From 1996 to 2005, the Philippine Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) issued licenses to 98,835 nursing graduates, excluding the 17,821 that passed the June 2006 controversial examination. Aguilar said "…Filipino nursing graduates can actually skip the Philippine eligibility test, and simply work their way through the licensing process of their host countries." "Thus, the potential number of Filipino nurses that may be deployed overseas is definitely not limited to those licensed by the PRC," he added. Every year, 460 Philippine schools produce some 25,000 nursing graduates. The country sends over 15,000 nurses abroad every year, World Health Organization records show. In 2006, 15,171 Filipino nurses took the NCLEX for the first time (non-repeaters), or 65% higher than the 9,181 in 2005. - GMANews.TV