Nursing Deans, UP Baguio Prof Decline Nomination to Nursing Board

Three nurses – two of them nursing deans and one a professor at UP Baguio – have declined nominations to the Board of Nursing (BoN), saying the nominations would not solve the nursing board scam and cure the ailing health care system.

BY ARTHUR L. ALLAD-IW
Northern Dispatch
Posted by
Bulatlat.com

BAGUIO CITY – Three professional nurses here have declined nominations to the Board of Nursing (BoN), saying the nominations would not solve the nursing board scam and cure the ailing health care system.

They are Ruth Thelma Tingda, Philippine Nursing Association (PNA) governor for Cordillera-Region 1 and nursing dean at Easter College; Grace Lacanaria, president of the Cordillera Associations of Deans of Nursing Schools in the Philippines and dean of the College of Nursing, St. Louis University; and Dr. Erlinda Palaganas of the University of the Philippines (UP) in Baguio and PNA adviser. The three are among 33 nominees to the BoN.

The nomination came from Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) chairperson Leonor Tripon-Rosero. The list of nominees would be submitted to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who would pick the final seven new BoN members of the BON, since two BON members were allegedly involved in the scam, and then resigned from their positions.

In her nomination letter, Rosero said she nominated the three since the PNA failed to give its own nominations after the deadline lapsed.

Recently, the three nurses were among the interveners in a complaint filed by nursing examinees last June asking the PRC to form an independent body to investigate the nursing board scam.

Other nursing professionals here believe the nomination aims to weaken campaigns against the board scam and mute their call for the resignation of PRC commissioners and the BoN.

In an interview, Palaganas said that the nomination is somehow “suspicious” as coincidentally this year’s nominees are actually the ones calling for the resignation of PRC commissioners and some BoN members. She observed that the nomination is due to the PRC’s assumption that she, Tingda and Lacanaria are seeking BoN positions.

Tingda shared the same observation. “What is the PRC up to?” she asked. “I rejected the nomination because I am not and never been interested to be a BoN member.”

Moreover, the nomination is insulting,” she added. “Many of us whose names are in the lists of nominees are petitioners.”

Both said they are seeking BoN positions as they are more interested in the campaign for reforms within the said institution.

Palaganas added that the nominations failed to follow the regular process provided for by PNA regulations. Nomination to the BoN is made through the PNA screening committee which conducts the interviews with the nominees, then the PNA president forwards the results of the interviews to Malacañang, Palaganas explained.

Nordis also tried to contact Lacanaria, but she was in Manila and unavailable for interview. Northern Dispatch / Posted by Bulatlat

Share This Post