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
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
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