Deputy Speaker and Camarines Sur 2nd District Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr. has filed a bill to amend certain provisions of the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002 to provide for an advanced nursing education program.
Under House Bill No. 7281 or the proposed “Advanced Nursing Education Act of 2020”, the House leader cited the need to improve the country’s nursing education by giving room for advanced programs.
"Advanced nursing education programs have the capacity to further catapult our nurses to realize greater opportunities through the opening up of leadership roles. By doing so, we can elevate our status further to be recognized as a producer of leaders, experts, and authorities in the field of nursing,” he said in his bill’s explanatory note.
The bill is one of the priority measures President Duterte mentioned during his State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) last July 27.
Villafuerte said his bill calls for the inclusion of community integration and immersion in the basic program for nursing education “to encourage more graduates to work in a community setting."
He explained that under his measure, admission to the basic program for nursing education shall require passing a National Nursing Admission Test (NNAT).
“The curriculum and the related learning experiences must be in accordance with the national nursing core competency standards to be promulgated by the Board of Nursing and implemented through the policies, standards, and guidelines by the Commission on Higher Education,” he said.
HB 7281 provides that there shall be a graduate program for nursing education which shall be post baccalaureate nursing program, which builds on the experiences, and skills of a nurse towards mastery, expertise, and leadership in practice, research, and education.
Such programs will develop highly specialized skills needed for nursing practice in the various fields of advanced nursing, including , but not limited to advanced practice nursing, ambulatory care nursing, critical care nursing, palliative care nursing, rehabilitation nursing, and other specialized fields of advanced nursing, it said.
“It shall include a master’s degree and doctorate degree in nursing founded on the philosophies and the scientific body of knowledge and practice,” the bill provides.
It provides that graduate program for nursing education shall be offered only in higher educational institutions as prescribed by the prevailing CHED policies, standards and guidelines for graduate education.
Under HB 7281, a member of the faculty in a College of Nursing teaching professional courses shall have the following qualifications:
-must be registered nurse in the Philippines and holder of a certificate of registration and a current professional identification card issued by the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC)
-must have at least three years of nursing practice
-must be a holder of a master’s degree in Nursing conferred by a university duly recognized by the Philippine government; and
-must have appropriate certificate of nursing proficiency, or its equivalent, to be issued by the Board of Nursing.
For a member of the faculty teaching graduate professional courses, they must be registered nurse and must have at least three years of nursing practice, and must be a holder of a doctoral degree in Nursing conferred by a university duly recognized by the government.
The measure provides that within 30 days after the effectivity of the proposed Act, the Board of Nursing and the PRC, in coordination with CHED and other concerned government agencies shall formulate the implementing rules and regulations of the proposed Act.