10,302 lilinino nurces
ta[G test Io utotk in US
A TOTAL oI 10,302 Fili-
pino nurses hoping to
practi.e theii profession
in America took the U.S,
licensule examination
for the {irst time in 2018,
the party-list group
ACTS-OFW said yesler-
dav.
'' I he nr.mber rs uP bY
32 percent versus the
7,791 Philippine-educat-
ed nurses who took
America's eligibility test
or the NCLEX for the first
time in 2017, without
counting repeate$," said
ACTgOFW Rep. Arice-
to Bertiz IIL
A total of 1232 Indi-
arars, 1,017 Puerto Ricans,
783 South Koreans and
601 Nigerians also took
the NCLEX for the first
time in 2018, Bertiz said.
The NCLEX for regis-
tered nurse (RN) or for
prachcal nurse (PN) is the
By Ryan Ponce
Pacpaco
licensure test adminis-
tered bv the U.S. National
Council of State Boards
of Nursing Inc. (NCSBN).
Thp NCI F.X eramina-
tion fee is 9200 (P10,500)
payable to the Pearson
VUE testing center in
Mak.rti Cl tv if taken in the
Philippine!.
Since the NCLEX is
usually the final step in
the U.S. nurse licensure
process, the number of
Filipjnos taking the tesf
for the first tlme is con-
sidered a good indicator
as to how manv of them
are trying to entirr the pro-
fession in America.
Citing newly-released
NCSBN statistics, Bertiz
said Jamaicans, Canadi
ans andCubans also com-
pete with Filipinos in
America's nursing labor
market.
"There's no queshon
many lihpino nu rses look-
ing for greener pasture
overseas prefer to work
and live in America, main-
ly due to the superior
hourly pay, plus our aL-
tachment to the Westem
culture," Bertiz said.
ACTS-OFW expects
the demand for Filipino
nurses in Ameiica to
steadily increase in the
years ahead.
"America's nursing
workforce is growing oid,
and they are not produc
ing new nurse4 f ast
enough, mainJy because
they lack teaching stafl.
In iact. U.S. schools are
turning ar\'ay man)'
would-be nursing stu-
dents due to the shortage
of qualified instructors,"
Bertiz said.
PagcT