Category: Nursing
MANILA, Philippines -- The demand for nurses in the United States will remain high for the next 10 years, according to an official of the US National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN).
An initial group of examinees took the National Council Licensure Examination at the first NCLEX testing center in the country on Thursday.
"The nursing shortage is still significant and research still indicates that there is a future anticipated shortfall of more than a million nurses in the US," Casey Marks, NCSBN associate executive director, told reporters in an interview.The shortage is worldwide, according to Marks. In the US -- a preferred destination of many Filipino nurses -- "there is certainly a significant demand for a long period of time," he said.With opportunities looming ahead, Marks said he would encourage more Filipinos to take up nursing as a profession.
"That's one of the reasons we are here," added Robert Whelan, president of Pearson Vue, which owns and operates NCLEX testing centers in various parts of the world, including the first center in the Philippines, located at the Trident Towers on Gil Puyat Avenue, Makati City.Ninety "candidates" took the NCLEX, among them 43-year-old Benjie Almonte, a mechanical engineer by profession.
Almonte, a father of five, arrived at the testing center at 7 a.m., two hours ahead of the scheduled start of the exam.He told a local television that he reviewed hard for the exams because he wanted to work in the US as a nurse.
High security were being implemented at the testing center, following measures that established the identity of the examinee and ensure that there would be no distractions during the exam, Marks said.
"The licensure practice is a matter of public safety. We want to make sure that that person is who they say they are. In fact, a number of US states require background checks," he added.
The opening of the NCLEX testing center signified the NCSBN's confidence in the Philippines, despite the leakage in the 2006 nursing licensure board exam that nearly dashed that batch of Filipino nurses' dream of working in the US."While the exam leakage was a matter of concern while we evaluated Manila as a testing location, we had our stipulated criteria from the very beginning, issues of national security, exam security, intellectual property concern, the issue of the number of candidates who will take the exam to make it financially worthwhile," Marks said.
"The exam leakage was just a pause in the process, it never really truly impacted on the evaluation and the criteria (to make Manila a testing center)," he said.Marks said that in any testing center, even in the US, problems could arise that may even lead to its closure.
"There always are individual candidates who do incredible things and sometimes they work with coaching schools in the wrong way," he said.
Both Marks and Whelan stressed the importance of having a "good partner on the ground," the local agency that would be able to address such problems.
The NCSBN and Pearson Vue have partnered with the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) for the administration of the NCLEX in the Philippines.
The NCLEX testing center in Manila is Pearson's biggest, with 45 seats, according to Whelan.The NCLEX is one of the major requirements for a foreign nurse to be able to get a license to work in the US.
"Once you have the license to practice, it certainly improves the odds of getting a visa to work in the US. The idea of bringing the exam to local constituents (like in Manila) will help facilitate that process to identify for US authorities people who have high probability of gaining employment as nurses," Marks said.
Whelan said 90 examinees were set to take the NCLEX daily, and around 4,000 have been scheduled to take the exam.
MANILA, Philippines -- The demand for nurses in the United States will remain high for the next 10 years, according to an official of the US National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN).
An initial group of examinees took the National Council Licensure Examination at the first NCLEX testing center in the country on Thursday.
"The nursing shortage is still significant and research still indicates that there is a future anticipated shortfall of more than a million nurses in the US," Casey Marks, NCSBN associate executive director, told reporters in an interview.The shortage is worldwide, according to Marks. In the US -- a preferred destination of many Filipino nurses -- "there is certainly a significant demand for a long period of time," he said.With opportunities looming ahead, Marks said he would encourage more Filipinos to take up nursing as a profession.
"That's one of the reasons we are here," added Robert Whelan, president of Pearson Vue, which owns and operates NCLEX testing centers in various parts of the world, including the first center in the Philippines, located at the Trident Towers on Gil Puyat Avenue, Makati City.Ninety "candidates" took the NCLEX, among them 43-year-old Benjie Almonte, a mechanical engineer by profession.
Almonte, a father of five, arrived at the testing center at 7 a.m., two hours ahead of the scheduled start of the exam.He told a local television that he reviewed hard for the exams because he wanted to work in the US as a nurse.
High security were being implemented at the testing center, following measures that established the identity of the examinee and ensure that there would be no distractions during the exam, Marks said.
"The licensure practice is a matter of public safety. We want to make sure that that person is who they say they are. In fact, a number of US states require background checks," he added.
The opening of the NCLEX testing center signified the NCSBN's confidence in the Philippines, despite the leakage in the 2006 nursing licensure board exam that nearly dashed that batch of Filipino nurses' dream of working in the US."While the exam leakage was a matter of concern while we evaluated Manila as a testing location, we had our stipulated criteria from the very beginning, issues of national security, exam security, intellectual property concern, the issue of the number of candidates who will take the exam to make it financially worthwhile," Marks said.
"The exam leakage was just a pause in the process, it never really truly impacted on the evaluation and the criteria (to make Manila a testing center)," he said.Marks said that in any testing center, even in the US, problems could arise that may even lead to its closure.
"There always are individual candidates who do incredible things and sometimes they work with coaching schools in the wrong way," he said.
Both Marks and Whelan stressed the importance of having a "good partner on the ground," the local agency that would be able to address such problems.
The NCSBN and Pearson Vue have partnered with the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) for the administration of the NCLEX in the Philippines.
The NCLEX testing center in Manila is Pearson's biggest, with 45 seats, according to Whelan.The NCLEX is one of the major requirements for a foreign nurse to be able to get a license to work in the US.
"Once you have the license to practice, it certainly improves the odds of getting a visa to work in the US. The idea of bringing the exam to local constituents (like in Manila) will help facilitate that process to identify for US authorities people who have high probability of gaining employment as nurses," Marks said.
Whelan said 90 examinees were set to take the NCLEX daily, and around 4,000 have been scheduled to take the exam.
Foreigners can also take the NCLEX at the Makati City testing center, he added.
Source:
By Nikko Dizon Source: Inquirer Last updated 08:37pm (Mla time) 08/23/2007
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