Philippine Consulate General, New York thanks Filipino Nurses’ Association
 in New York for NCLEX Initiative  

21 May 2007 — Consul General Cecilia Rebong of the Philippine Consulate General in New York, USA reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that the Consulate hosted a merienda cena for members of the Philippine Nurses Association of America (PNAA) on 3 May 2007 at the Philippine Center to thank the PNAA for initiating and actively supporting the successful Philippine lobby to make the Philippines a test-site for NCLEX  

NCLEX, or the National Council Licensure Examination, is an examination that every foreign-graduate nurse (nurses who did not graduate from an American nursing school) must take and pass before he or she can practice anywhere in the United States.  

The decision as to where NCLEX can be administered outside the United States rests with the National Council of States Board of Nursing (NCSBN), a not-for-profit organization whose membership comprises the boards of nursing in the 50 states, the District of Columbia and four US territories.  

During the latter part of 2002, the NCSBN approved a recommendation to designate "international test centers" for the National Council Licensing Examination-Registered Nurse (NCLEX-RN) outside the United States and its territories.  

The PNAA immediately created a task force to work for the designation of the Philippines as an NCLEX test site. Chaired by Ms. Filipinas Lowery, the members of the Task Force were Lolita Compas ( New York ), Leo Felix Jurado ( New Jersey ), Rosario May Mayor ( New York ), Reynaldo Rivera ( New York ), Linda Simunek ( Florida ), Remedies Solarte ( Michigan ), and Brenda Cohen ( California ). Mila Velasquez, who was then PNAA President, served as an Ex-Officio member of the Task Force.  PNAA then coordinated with the Consulate in New York  in bringing the cause to the Philippine government.  

Citing Ms. Lowery, who briefly traced the history of PNAA's NCLEX initiative, Consul General Rebong said that the NCSBN initially refused to hold the test in the Philippines due to concerns over peace and order and the need to maintain the integrity of the exams.  

In 2003, PNAA further sought official endorsement by the Philippine Government of its NCLEX initiative through President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who was then officially visiting New York .  

Another meeting was held on 28 September 2004 with Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo, who was in New York for the 59^th Session of the UN General Assembly. The Secretary assured PNAA that the Philippines was addressing the concerns of NCSBN and that there will be full government support for the initiative.  

Early 2006, the NCSBN finally engaged PNAA in a full dialogue on its NCLEX initiative.  By then, the Philippine government support for the NCLEX initiative had reached its highest point, with Chairman Dante Ang of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas leading the campaign to make the Philippines a test-site for NCLEX.  

In mid-2006, the NCSBN announced that it was indefinitely putting on hold the Philippines ' application as NCLEX test-site government because of the nursing board exam scandal. Undaunted by this decision, PNAA and the office of Chairman Ang continued to pursue the NCLEX initiative.  They met with NCSBN at its headquarters in the US , and invited and subsequently hosted a delegation of NCSBN officials in the Philippines .  President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo also personally met with the NCSBN delegation during their visit.  

In February 2007, the NCSBN finally made a decision designating the Philippines as a new site for the administration of the NCLEX.  NCSBN's Board of Directors made the decision after finding that "The Philippine government has shown a deep commitment to ensuring a secure test center in Manila and has been very responsive to NCSBN concerns."  

In her remarks before the group, Consul General Rebong said, "If it were a different organization, the initial refusal by the NCSBN to designate the Philippines as a NCLEX test-site could have meant the end of the campaign.  But PNAA was different.  It refused to give up.  It chose to continue the fight because it believed in the Filipino nurse and, more importantly, the capability of the Philippine government to meet the concerns of the NCSBN."  

She added, "Five years after creating the NCLEX Task Force, PNAA's efforts to bring NCLEX to RP to help future Filipino nurses who dream of someday working also in the US have borne fruit."  

At the Consulate reception, PNAA was led by its incumbent President, Rosario Mayor, and joined by Filipinas Lowery, chair of the PNAA NCLEX Task Force, two founding members of the PNAA namely, Zeny Lipat and Phoebe Andes; Mary Joy Garcia-Dia, president of PNA-New York (NY) Chapter; Sue Castor; president of PNA-New Jersey (NJ) Chapter; and about 40 more who were either members of PNA-NY or PNA-NJ.  END

/jay

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