The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) reported that there has been a rising trend of nursing graduates passing the Nursing Licensing Examination (NLE) since last year.
During the Laging Handa public briefing on Tuesday, Commissioner Jose Cueto Jr. revealed that 10,754 of the 14,000 people who took the test in the previous two license examinations passed. The passing rate stood at 74.94 percent.
According to Cueto, the NLE passing rate has been barely 60% for the past six years, with only 70,000 out of 130,000 examinees passing the tests.
In 2018, the lowest NLE passing percentage of 39% was reported.
Cueto expects the NLE passing rate will rise as the quality of test questions improves.
He emphasized that the PRC cannot grant interim licenses to those who did not pass the licensure examination or those who did not receive a grade of 75 percent, or scored less than 60 percent in any topic.
But Cueto noted that if non-passer will be allowed to work in government hospitals, they can be supervised by registered nurses "because they are not into independent practice of the profession."
The PRC official emphasized that health care institutions will adhere to quality assurance and will not jeopardize patients' safety and welfare.
