Final try to change mind of CGFNS

Monday, March 5, 2007

By Maricel V. Cruz, Reporter A team headed by Rep. Monico Puentevella left for the United States on Sunday on a mission to convince the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools to reconsider its decision on the retake of portions of the leak-tainted June 2006 nursing licensure examinations. The team will present to CGFNS officials documentation and computations to justify its stand that the 17,000 examinees who passed do not need to retake the questionable portions of the tests, Puentevella said in an interview. The Bacolod City congressman, who heads the House Committee on Youth and Sports, acknowledged his group is practically on a “mission impossible.” But we’ll do our best for the sake of the 17,000 who passed the nursing board exams,” he said. The results of their mission would go into crafting a law that would prevent a repeat of the leakage in board exam, Puentevella said. “We will try and we will come up with a proposed legislation that will address this problem on leakage [in professional examinations] such as nursing board exams,” he said. Puentevella was accompanied by members of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), the Board of Nursing, the Philippine Nurses’ Association and the Association of Deans and Colleges of Nursing. They were expected to meet with CGFNS officials Sunday night (Monday morning in Manila). The CGFNS is requiring passers of the 2006 nursing board exams to retake portions of Tests 3 and 5 before they are granted VisaScreen certificates. Medical workers seeking jobs in the US must secure VisaScreen certificates before they can be granted working visas. If the CGFNS is not swayed by the task force’s evidence, those who passed the 2006 nursing board could either apply for jobs in countries outside the US or choose to retake the leaked portions.