AMID debates on whether to allow board flunkers to secure temporary licenses, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) yesterday said the passing rate for the
Nurses Licensure Examination (NLE) has been increasing in the past six years.
PRC Commissioner Jose Cueto, in a briefing, said, “In the last six years, out of 113,000 examinees, almost 70,000 have passed. So, the average passing percentage overall the last six years was at 60 percent.”
“But, over the last two examinations, in November 2022 and May 2023, the passing percentage went up to 74 percent. So, it is no longer that low,” he added.
Data shows that in November 2022 NLE, 18,529 of the 24,903 examinees passed. In the May 2023 NLE, 10,764 of the 14,364 examinees passed.
Cueto said the improvement even caught many by surprise as the passing rate had been expected to be lower because of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
“Educational institutions were afraid that because of the pandemic and there were no face-to-face classes and are limited to online learning, the passing percentage may decline,” he said.
Given the high passing rate in recent NLEs, Cueto said expressed belief the PRC’s close collaboration with educational institutions and adherence to academic programs will lead to more improvement in the examination results.
“I think the passing percentages will continue to improve because of the high-quality test questions that are based on the policies and guidelines governing the academic programs,” said Cueto.
Earlier, Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said he will ask the PRC to issue temporary licenses to NLE flunkers with grades of 70 to 74 percent, so they can be employed in DOH hospitals.
He said the program will be a temporary solution to the nurse shortage problem in the country’s healthcare institutions.
The PRC, on Wednesday, said the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002 does not provide for the issuance of a temporary license to those who flunked the NLE. It said the issuance of special or temporary permits are only for licensed nurses from foreign countries.
