A total of 3,714 nursing graduates from the Philippines indicated their desire to practice their profession in America by taking the U.S. licensure examination for the first time from January to March this year, Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas said on Sunday.
The number is up 147 percent compared to the 1,501 nursing graduates from the Philippines that took the $200 NCLEX for the first time in the same quarter in 2021, according to Gullas, a member of the House committee on higher and technical education.
“Our single biggest advantage in foreign labor markets is that we are teaching our Bachelor of Science in Nursing program in English, the world’s bridging language.”
Since passing the NCLEX is usually the final step in America’s nurse licensure process, the number of graduates from the Philippines taking the test for the first time (excluding repeaters) is a good indicator of how many of them are trying to enter the U.S. labor market.
The NCLEX, or the National Council Licensure Examination, is administered by the U.S. National Council of State Boards of Nursing Inc. (USNCSBN).
Based on USNCSBN statistics, a total of 225,551 nursing graduates from the Philippines have taken the NCLEX for the first time since 1994.
“Our universities should invest more aggressively in training entry-level nurses if we want to supply the global demand for new practitioners while also fulfilling the local requirement,” Gullas said.
“Our single biggest advantage in foreign labor markets is that we are teaching our Bachelor of Science in Nursing program in English, the world’s bridging language,” Gullas pointed out.
The World Health Organization (WHO), in its State of the World’s Nursing report, has projected that without action, “there will be a shortfall of 4.6 million nurses worldwide by 2030.”
In the Philippines, the WHO said the shortfall of nurses is expected to be 249,843 by 2030 unless greater investment is made now to retain them in the local health sector.
In the Philippines, the WHO said the shortfall of nurses is expected to be 249,843 by 2030 unless greater investment is made now to retain them in the local health sector.
Based on Professional Regulation Commission data, the Philippines has produced a total of 307,237 registered nurses since 2010.
The Gullas family runs the University of the Visayas (UV), which has been producing nursing graduates for years.
The Cebu-based university’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing program was the first to have been granted Level III re-accreditation status in Central Visayas by the Commission on Higher Education.
Gullas is due to retire from politics when his term as representative of Cebu’s first congressional district ends on June 30.
He will be replaced by Representative-elect Rhea Gullas, who ran unopposed and received 288,131 votes in the May 9 elections.
Rhea is married to Talisay City Mayor Gerald Anthony “Samsam” Gullas Jr., the Gullas patriarch’s grandson.
