Philippine Nursing Licensure Exam

The Philippine Nursing Licensure Exam is a multiple choice exam to test basic nursing level competency which considers the objectives of the nursing curriculum, the broad areas of nursing and other related disciplines and competencies. It is held every June and December annually in various public schools throughout the Philippines. Room assignment for the exams are posted outside the Philippine Regulation Commission building at least three days before the exam.

Legal Basis
Article IV, Section 12 of the Philippine Republic Act No. 9173 states that all applicants for license to practice nursing shall be required to pass a written examination, which shall be given by the Board of Nursing in such places and dates as may be designated by the Commission, provided that it shall be in accordance with Republic Act No. 8981, otherwise known as the PRC Modernization Act of 2000.

Qualifications
At the time of filing the application for the examination of nurses, the applicant must : Be a citizen of the Philippines, or a citizen or a subject of a country which permits Filipino nurses to practice within its territorial limits on the same basis of the subject or citizen of such country, provided that the requirmeents for the registration or licensing or nursess in said country are substantially the same as those prescribed in this RA 9173. Be of good moral character Holder of a Bachelor's Degree in Nursing from a college or university that complies with the standards of nursing education duly recognized by the proper government agency. 

Ratings
In order to pass the examination, an examinee must obtain a general average of at least seventy five percent (75%) with a rating of not below sixty percent (60%) in any subject. An examinee who obtains an average rating of seventy-five percent (75%) or higher must take the examination again but only in the subject or subjects where he/she is rated below sixty percent (60%). In order to pass the succeeding examination, an examinee must obtain a rating of at least seventy-five (75%) in the subjects or subjects repeated.

Coverage
The scope or scope of the examination for the practice of nursing in the Philippines shall be determined by the Board. For the December 2007 examination, the Board of Nursing has released the detailed scope of nursing to the deans of the nursing colleges and universities of the Philippines through the Association of Deans of Philippine Colleges of Nursing (ADPCN).

June 2006 Nursing Licensure Exams Controversy
The Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) which administers the nursing exams with the Philippine Board of Nursing (BoN) conducted an investigation and learned that two BoN members were responsible for the leakage. According to one of the two members who were removed for “negligence,” she just inadvertently left copies in a Baguio copy shop where she was “xeroxing” her 500 questions. Others charged that the BoN members were bribed by the review centers to provide them with copies of their questions and answers.

In order to become eligible for a VisaScreen Certificate, CGFNS has required that a June 2006 passer must first re-take and pass, with a score of 75 percent or better, the “special voluntary examination” covering the subject matter of Tests 3 and 5. Passage of the NCLEX or the CGFNS Examination by any passer of the compromised June 2006 PRC examination will not substitute for the requirement that he or she take the “special voluntary examination” authorized by Executive Order 609 issued by the Philippine Government on March 12, 2007.

Some 42,000 students sat the nursing examination last year but only about 17,000 passed. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has since ordered all 17,000 to re-take the exams, sparking an uproar from nurses who denied any involvement in wrongdoing.

A special review conducted by the Department of Labor and Employment in coordination with Centers of Excellence Nursing Schools provided for voluntary special review classes in preparation to the voluntary retake of the equivalent of Tests III and V of the June 2006 Board of Nursing Examination pursuant to Executive Order No. 609, series of 2007 from March 21 to April 4, 2007. The Special Review refers to the series of classes covering the topics included in Tests III and V of the June 2006 of Nursing Licensure Examination (NLE). This is offered exclusively on a voluntary basis to all nurses licensed under the June 2006 NLE. The voluntary examination will not affect the validity of licenses issued. It is offered merely to enhance employability of successful examinees to qualify for the CGFNS VisaScreen Certificate.