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Doctors leaving as nurses; opportunities in Japan, Australia 2007-08-09 20:14:00 Just got back from a trip, so I haven't been able to update lately. I've got a whole chest-full of new ideas that I plan to write about and I think I just might have the extra time now to write more, so expect better things from this blog.In the meantime, I was surfing the Web for some relevant news that I missed while I was away and here are some of the noteworthy issues that you might also like to look up:Japan
-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA)Sen. Aquilino Pimentel was quoted in the papers this week saying the controversial JPEPA might be ratified by our Senate. This legislation will, among other things, open up work opportunities for Filipino caregivers and nurses
in Japan. Initially the number of workers have been limited to 400, but hopefully this would increase in the future.Australia
needs nursesRaul V. Hernandez, honorary consul to Melbourne, said Australia would need 10,000 nurses in the next three years.Philippine doctors leaving as nursesThe issue of doct Read more:Doctors
Five things you can do while waiting for the June 2007 licensure exam results 2007-08-01 20:29:00 The Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) says that the results
of the June 2007 Philippine nurse licensure exam won't be available until Aug. 15 or onwards, so while waiting, here are some things
you can do to relieve your stress and make the most out of this quiet period.1. Go to a park, a beach, or a nature trail. If you haven't done so already, now is the time to breathe in some fresh air and take in the soothing effect of nature's healing charms. Forget the mall, you've been there every day after school or clinical duty.2. Cook for your parents or your loved ones. If you don't regularly do this, now is the perfect time to show some appreciation for your parents. If you're the regular cook in the house, prepare something special--a dish you've never cooked before. Remember that a happy stomach is the source of all happiness. For guys who don't know how to cook, this is highly recommended because the effort already makes it extra special.3. Bring a cake or anything simple
Waiting for the June 2007 Philippine Nurse Licensure Exam results 2007-07-31 01:40:00 The anxiety of waiting for the results
of a major test, like the June 2007 PhilippineNurse
Licensure exam, builds up when you expect that an announcement would come out soon. As the days draw nearer to a target date or a day that you'd expect the results to be published, the tension gradually intensifies. Some people cope adequately, while others lose sleep, lose appetite, and even, sometimes, lose their mind. (I'm exaggerating.)The Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC), which administers the nursing licensure test, earlier said results for the June 2007 board exams would be available by the middle of August. I assume that's from Aug. 15 onwards, or about two months after the exams were conducted in various parts of the country. Throughout the history of PRC, they've been terrible at calculations and predictions. Of course, you have to marvel at their efficiency and speed when processing license tests for master plumbers, foresters, and certified mill foremen. But one has to wo Read more:Waiting
Filipina nurse awarded Best Nurse Leader in US 2007-07-29 11:47:00 Filipina nurse Lily Maniquiz Lara has been awarded the 2006 Best Nurse Leader
in a search conducted by Advance, a US-based nursing publication. Lara was cited primarily for her leadership in the development and implementation of a successful program that reduced patient falls by as much as 80% in the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System's Nursing Home Care Unit 213-2, among her other accomplishments. The Philippine Nurses Association-America in Southern California had earlier awarded Lara with the Excellence in Nursing Management and she had been previously awarded the Excellence in Nursing Innovation in 2004.Advance also cited Lara's effective management style, which helped her get a 95% staff satisfaction mark in a survey conducted by the publication. "When it comes to pulling people together to get the job done, Lara relies on her innate ability to connect with a wide variety of personalities to create trusting relationships," Advance writer Luke Cowles wrote about the Pinay n
Emerging nurse specialty: Blackbelt Nursing 2007-07-28 10:28:00 If you haven't decided yet on which nursing specialty you want to go into or if you're tired of the humdrum of the medical-surgical floor, here's an emerging nursing specialty that you might want to check out. It's called "blackbelt nursing"--where the first intervention for an aggressive or violent client is to deliver a karate chop as a sedative.I'm just kidding, of course. But you never know how things progress in the future.Check out this story from news.com.au: Docs, nurses take self-defense Read more:Nursing
Filipino caregivers face deportation in UK 2007-07-28 05:18:00 More than a dozen Filipino
senior carers in Cambridge in the UK may have to leave the country after the local government has refused to renew their work permits. The refusal comes after the removal of senior carers off the national shortage jobs list. Many of the Filipinos facing deportation have lived in Cambridge for four years.The decision has been appealed, with city MP David Howarth taking on their case.
Leakage mars Canadian nursing licensure exam 2007-07-26 23:24:00 Canadian authorities have begun investigations of a security breach in its own nursing licensure exam in June. Questions that were part of the licensure test were leaked days before the exam was conducted, according to a report by thestar.com.Officials of the Canadian Nursing Association said only questions in the short-answer part (fill-in-the-blank) were compromised. These short-answer questions comprise 15% of the entire test, while multiple choice questions make up the rest of the day-long exam, which had 250 questions in all.Some 5,300 candidates took the nursing test, which is a requirement for licensure in Canada.****I'm eagerly awaiting how CGFNS will react to this scandal, which strikes so much resemblance to the Philippines' own leakage controversy. Canadian authorities contend that those who passed the exam are qualified nurses, despite being scored based only on the multiple-choice portion of the test, a strategy which our own PRC employed--scoring candidates based on the Read more:Canadian
Pinoy nurse in the UK gets deportation reprieve 2007-07-26 11:56:00 A Filipino nurse in the United Kingdom got a reprieve
from the British government, which had earlier wanted to kick him out for missing a deadline for the filling of an immigration form.Aldrin Quibuyen, a nurse who works at Caeffair Nursing Home in Llanelli, was allowed to stay in the country after being granted a reprieve by House of Commons, Immigration Minister Liam Byrne.Quibuyen has been in the UK since 2003, while his wife and son Buzz joined him in 2004. They have a daughter, Phebe, who was born in the UK. Read more:Pinoy
DOLE Secretary proposes practical nursing license for board exam flunkers 2007-07-25 21:46:00 I didn't know Labor Secretary
Arturo Brion could crack a joke, not until I read the news from gmanews.tv about his proposal to give practical nursing licenses to those who would fail the recent June 2007 nursing licensure exams.If I were a practical nurse, I'd be insulted. At least in the US, they have separate exams for nurses and practical nurses. I hope Brion is not even half-serious about his proposal to turn the practical nursing profession into a basketcase of nurse flunkers.In the first place, what is Brion thinking? I suppose he wants to make practical nurses out of all flunkers, not just those who are with the June 2006 batch who re-took the exams, since he says only half of the 78,000 who sat for the test are expected to make the cut. The June 2006 batch have a different set of hurdles that they should overcome, but first-timers and non-June 2006 examinees don't need Brion's condescension.Whether or not a nursing applicant from the Philippines gets a local license, he's
Canadian headhunters recruiting Filipino nurses in Ireland 2007-07-22 08:51:00 Headhunters from Canada have reportedly started luring Filipinonurses
away from Ireland
, where the government refuses to give citizenship status to Filipino immigrants, even to those who have stayed there for over seven years.In the past few weeks, Canadian
recruiters have gone on a massive recruitment drive to get as many as 250 Filipino nurses to move to Alberta, where green cards and better wages await them.There are about 10,000 Filipino nurses in Ireland and only a few have been granted citizenship. The Irish government does not recognize educational credentials of the spouses of Filipino nurses and Filipinos pay higher school fees for their children because, without citizenship, they're classified as international students. Read more:recruiting
A day in the life of a med-surg nurse 2007-07-21 09:26:00 The New York Times and Vault.com offer an excellent collection of anecdotal articles about what goes on in a typical day for various types of jobs in the US. So, while waiting for a relief from the retrogression blues, let's take a peek into a typical day of a medical-surgical nurse in the US. Dan Bratton, a registered nurse who works on the medical-surgical floor of the Good Samaritan General Hospital in New York, lets us in on a typical day for him at the hospital. Read about Bratton's day here.
Mauritius needs foreign nurses 2007-07-21 04:30:00 Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius
(Photo from Wikipedia)The African Press Agency reports that Mauritius--an island nation off the coast of Africa in the southwest Indian Ocean, about 900 kilometers east of Madagascar--may open its doors to foreign nurses
.The island state has been losing nurses to France, which has its own nursing shortage of about 25,000 positions. Mauritians are fluent in French and English is taught in schools, that's why they're being recruited to France.
Amendment that seeks to relieve retrogression voted down 2007-07-20 22:04:00 The US Senate yesterday voted down a proposal by Senator John Cornyn to bring in an amendment (SA 2337) to H.R. 2669 that would have brought temporary relief to the retrogression. The motion fell 55-40, with 5 abstaining from the vote.Click here to see who voted against the proposal. (The Nays killed the motion.) Read more:Amendment
US Congress contemplates additional green cards for skilled workers 2007-07-20 11:09:00 Businessweek today reports that the US Congress
is contemplating a possible legislation that would provide additional green cards for skilled workers.Representative Zoe Lofgren, who serves as the chairman of the House subcommittee on immigration, confirmed that there are informal discussions going on among congressmen regarding the increase in yearly green card allocations by at least 100,000.Recent revelations that the US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) has not been able to issue all of the alloted visas for the past years because it lacked the resources to process all of the applications have prompted congressmen to initiate the discussions. The USCIS recently admitted that 10,000 of the 140,000 green cards that were allocated last year were never given out. Without new legislation, these visas can not be issued anymore. Over the last 10 years, it is estimated that as many as 170,000 green cards have been unused.The current discussions in Congress are focused on possibly r
Best hospitals in the US 2007-07-18 03:44:00 The U.S. News & World Report has announced the results of its annual survey of the Best Hospitals in the U.S. Johns Hopkins in Baltimore has again come up on top, followed by the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, and the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.The survey ranks the best places to seek medical care, not the best places to work for as a nurse, but often most of the top hospitals also offer superb nursing opportunities.After you look up the survey, check out this interesting article, "Your New Best Friends, the Nurses", as well.
US gov't allows Adjustment applications until Aug 17 2007-07-17 20:28:00 The big news today is that the US Department of State has allowed the filing of Adjustment of Status (I-485) until August 17. It rescinded the July 2 Visa Bulletin which took back an earlier announcement that employment-based visas would be available by July. Applicants whose I-140s are current and are in the US for at least three months may already file for AOS until the cut-off date.The August Visa bulletin, however, shows that all employment-based visas would be unavailable and this is expected until October, which is the start of the agency's fiscal year.
Between New Zealand and the US 2007-07-17 19:05:00 New Zealand
is a beautiful country. Its breathtaking landscape and unpolluted air are only a few of the things to love about this country. I've thought about moving to New Zealand even before I took up nursing and now that I have a higher chance of getting into the country with a nursing degree, the temptation is more intense, especially since there's so much uncertainty regarding the US nursing industry right now.So, when I was asked few days ago what I think about moving to New Zealand, I already had a ready answer.If you want to take out the uncertainty and want to move out in a definite time, New Zealand looks very promising compared to the US, where there's no telling when the retrogression will end. Applications for NZ are pretty much very straightforward--just get all the paperwork done and you've got high chances of landing a nursing job there, especially if you already have some work experience tucked under your belt. (Although experience is not required by every employer,
Robot doctors? Ok. But robot nurses? 2007-07-14 12:38:00 I doubt if robots would ever perform patient rounds for nurses
, just like what they're doing for some doctors right now. A more intriguing question would be: would doctors be able to use robots to see patients when they're far away if there were no nurses at the bedside to carry out their orders?What do you think?(Photo is by the Associated Press)
Map of Pearson Vue test center in Makati 2007-07-13 12:20:00 An NCLEX-RN test center is finally here in Manila. Although the center officially opens on August 23, when the first NCLEX exam in the Philippines will be conducted, applicants may now schedule their test date.Two days ago, all the exam slots in the Hong Kong test center from July to October were all booked, but today, numerous slots have opened from late July onwards. It was about time that a Manila test center opened, for such a long time Filipinos have had tremendous difficulty scheduling test dates there, so many had to resort to extreme measures such as taking the NCLEX in Saipan, Taiwan, South Korea, and even Japan. More importantly, the opening of the Manila test center is a great financial relief to many Filipino nurses who don't have the resources to pay for plane fare, food, and hotel accommodations outside the country.The Manila test center won't be conducting exams until August 23, but if you want to know where it's located so you can scout transportation routes and near Read more:Pearson
Pearson Vue's Manila testing center contact info 2007-07-12 18:22:00 Pearson Vue today will begin scheduling services for the NCLEX-RN exam in its Manila
testing center. Here's the contact
information for the Manila center:Pearson Professional Centers-Manila, PhilippinesTelephone: 8210 2929 7803 Address: 27th Floor, Trident Tower 312 Senator Gil Puyat Avenue, Makati City, ManilaThe number listed above was listed as the official number of the Pearson office in Manila, however, it was removed from the Web site a few days after. If you can't reach this number, you may try other Pearson Vue hotlines:* The Asia-Pacific call center (based in Australia): +612-94785400* You may try this number as well: 1280061294785400(The prefix 1 and 2 might be for int'l dialing, so you can replace it with your use your provider's int'l dialing instructions, for ex. +1 or +001, etc.)* You can also try this: 1800-1110-0796 loc 3(Contributed by Kokeshi)* Chicago, Illinois office: 312-525-3667 or 312-525-3600 (submitted by a reader)You can see a map of the Pearson Vue testi Read more:Pearson
Waiting out the retrogression 2007-07-11 08:47:00 While waiting out the retrogression, now is the best time to complete all your documents, get the NCLEX done (if you haven't done so), and perhaps earn some work experience (if you're not employed yet). Although not all employers in the U.S. require experience, it'll be good to boost your own confidence especially if you're a young fresh graduate.Don't let the retrogression get you down, the worldwide nursing shortage won't be gone in a day. Read this story, for instance, of a hospital in Southwest Florida which is contemplating international recruitment efforts.An excerpt from the article, reads:International recruitment. Lee Memorial brought in 54 nurses from India who were under contract with Southwest Florida Regional Medical Center and Gulf Coast Hospital before Lee Memorial purchased those two facilities. If the nurses work out — and by all appearances they are — Lee Memorial might again look overseas for staff.Other data to think about:Hospitals around the U.S. had 116 Read more:Waiting
NCLEX, in Manila finally! 2007-07-11 07:55:00 The news today about the opening of the NCLEX
testing center in Manila
is the best news we've received in a long time. The NCSBN, in a press release, said the Manila center will begin accepting calls on Friday, July 13, NCLEX applicants who already have their ATT can start scheduling their exam dates this Friday, but actual exams will only begin on Aug. 23.I've e-mailed NCSBN to ask additional details about the Manila test center, hopefully they'll reply soon. Except for the start of scheduling and exam administration, the NCSBN press release contained little else. There were no details about the location of the testing center and the number of examinees it can accommodate in a day.The testing center will be operated by the NCSBN's test service partner Pearson Vue. NCSBN said the center will have the same security systems as in other NCLEX testing centers.In the past, there were reports that the NCLEX testing center would be located in the Enterprise Building in Makati. Some rumors
NCLEX testing center in Manila begins scheduling on July 13 2007-07-10 19:19:00 The National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc. (NCSBN) will begin NCLEX
testing in Manila
at the international Pearson Professional Center on Aug. 23, 2007. Scheduling for examination appointments will begin on July 13, 2007. Read the full story here. Read more:scheduling
Hail Ban Ki-moon! 2007-07-10 09:21:00 This is a shoutout for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. On Tuesday, Ban called on both rich and poor countries to act urgently on pressing problems related to migration. The UN's top official told some 600 delegates at an international migration conference in Brussels to address growing issues such abuse and discrimation of migrants. He also asked richer nations--particularly, Japan, the U.S. and member-nations of the European Union--to create policies that are friendlier to migration, especially of people trying to escape poverty in Africa and Asia.Ban has just become migration's biggest advocate. I'd vote him as President anywhere anytime.The Brussels conference is the first in informal conferences designed to discuss the migration phenomenon. The next conference is planned next year, right here in Manila.
PricewaterhouseCoopers report highlights broken U.S. medical workforce model 2007-07-09 12:23:00 A new report
by PriceWaterhouseCoopers says the U.S. medical
workforce system needs resuscitative care. It says that even though there are more doctors and nurses today than ever before, they are not being trained, distributed or deployed efficiently. A huge decline in the number of nurses will begin in less than three years but hospital employers are still in denial about just bad nurses feel about their work conditions.Read the official media release on the PriceWaterhouseCoopers report here. Read more:model
Getting to Pearson Vue Manila office 2007-08-11 09:33:00 Test-takers of the NCLEX will sit for the exam for the first time right here in Manila
starting Aug. 23. This is indeed a big relief for Filipino applicants and by extension, all other applicants from other neighboring ASEAN countries. Compared to Hong Kong, accomodations and the cost of basic goods is surely much cheaper in the Philippines. Earlier, we uploaded a map to locate the Pearson
Professional Centers-Manila test center. If you're taking public transportation and need directions to the test center, here's a short guide to help you.Getting there:From Quezon City -- The fastest way is by riding the MRT. Get off Buendia station. Walk towards the Shell gas station, across it is a jeepney terminal. Get on any of the jeepneys plying the Buendia route and ask the driver to drop you off at RCBC Plaza. After you get off, cross the street and walk towards the Shell Maya gas station. Trident Tower is a building or two after the gas station.Another option is by taking a bus from Buendia Read more:office
Filipino caregivers in the UK get work extension, pay hike 2007-08-10 12:25:00 Here's great news for Filipino
nurses, caregivers and midwives in the UK: the British government has reversed its policy of denying work extensions to non-EU health workers and even raised salaries from €12,500 British pounds (P1.156 million) to €14,600 (P1.351 million) annually.Across the UK, health workers, called carers, working in nursing homes had faced deportation after the UK began denying work extensions to those who come from non-EU countries. This ensued because of a policy, drawn up earlier, that favors workers from EU-member states.
Release date for June 2007 nurse licensure exam results 2007-08-15 12:05:00 Talking to my source again today, it seems that Aug. 21 might be too soon to expect the PRC to finish compiling the final list of passers. The BON was scheduled to convene starting today but it could take a few more days to prepare the final list.What's significant is that the PRC is in the final stages of releasing the results
already and we would finally know who passed or not in a week or two.To all who took the June 2007 licensure exam, you're already in the homestretch of your wait. Goodluck to all! Read more:Release
Updates on June 2007 Nurse Licensure Exam 2007-08-14 04:17:00 Here's the latest update on the June 2007 Philippine nurse licensure examination. Got this information from a very reliable source.The BON will convene to deliberate on the results of the June 2007 board exams starting Aug. 16. I understand this will take about three days. Exam results COULD be announced on Aug. 21, or maybe even as early as Aug. 20. Of course, the PRC may still turn around and release the results much later than that up to Aug. 31, but at least we know they've already started the process of finalizing the results.I'm not sure about what goes on during the deliberations. From what I've gathered, officials perform some statistical treatment on the raw scores to determine the cut-off passing mark. From this, they can determine who passed or not. There's an unconfirmed RUMOR that initial reports showed only 29% passed the June boards, but, my source says the numbers are now higher and can only go higher once the deliberations are done.I'll post more information on t Read more:Nurse
Basic IVT training schedules 2007-08-13 22:43:00 Here's a list of IVT training programs in Manila and nearby provinces for the month of Aug. and Sept.August14-16 Lung Center of the Philippines15-17 San Juan de Dios16-18 Martinez Memorial Hospital16-18 Ospital ng Maynila26-28 Unciano Hospital AntipoloSeptember11-13 Bulacan Provincial Hospital26-28 Angeles University Foundation18-20 Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Read more:Basic
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