Nursing is no longer just a profession but it has become an industry of sorts. Take for example the proliferation of nursing schools and nursing review centers in Davao City and you will be able to conclude that nursing has indeed become a winning business venture.
“Nursing schools and review centers has become a business competition in Davao City,” Mind’s Nest Nursing Review Center founder Dr. Nestor Arce said. This is quite an eye opener coming from a nurse turned doctor turned nursing review lecturer. He, however, lamented that the quality of nursing schools and even nursing review centers have deteriorated because some of these institutions are being considered more like businesses and milking cows than vocations.
Of course, he said, there are still schools and review centers that have managed to maintain the quality of teaching and review necessary to produce the best nurses from the city, but these are few and far between.
Arce said there are at least nine nursing review centers in Davao City and a lot more schools offering nursing courses.
The proliferation of nursing schools and review centers in the country is evident of the increasing number of students who opt for the course when they go to college, or even as a second course. The pronouncement of Dr. Josefina Tuazon of the University of the Philippines College of Nursing that “at least 150,000 nurses in the country are presently unemployed” should not come as a surprise.
The grim scenario for the nursing industry was later confirmed by Labor secretary Marianito Roque who said that at least 70,000 new nursing board passers are added to the workforce every year. Of this number, only 3,500 are employed in the local market and up to 20,000 are employed overseas.
Apparently, the country’s employment sector has a minimal absorptive capacity when it comes to nurses. Their number continues to increase, as evident with the success of some of these nursing review centers in the city.
Mind’s Nest Review Center
This is a home-grown nursing review center founded by Dr. Nestor Arce, who graduated from San Pedro College, one of the top nursing schools in the city. Unlike other centers more visible to the public eye because of their marketing efforts, Mind’s Nest keeps to itself and relies on the good words thrown in by their reviewees and passers.
With only a year and a half since its establishment, Mind’s Nest already enjoys a 93% passing rate for their first batch of 800 examinees identified as the November 2009 Group. New review centers usually get low passing rates during the first years of business. The Center now has 15 lecturers coming from the University of Sto. Tomas, Far Eastern University and other notable institutions in the country.
Prime Review Center
Prime is one of the most visible nursing review centers in the city today thanks to its aggressive marketing stance. Prime billboards are seen in strategic locations, encouraging nursing graduates to consider the center for their review classes. The Center’s objective is to achieve a 100% passing rate in the Nursing Licensure Examination.
This review center is a professionally-operated learning institution that aims to provide the best and most comprehensive review to future nurses. Thus, they continuously provide competent and seasoned lecturers to provide high quality review programs for their reviewees.
Prime focuses on reinforcing the reviewees’ existing knowledge, but it also concentrates in areas which require reinforcement. Unlike the other centers, Prime provides in-house review for the schools.
R.A. GAPUZ Review Center
Of all the nursing review centers in the city, it is R.A. Gapuz which has national exposure, having won the 2004 Parangal ng Bayan Award as Most Outstanding Review Center. It has received a lot of awards making it a byword in the country.
The Center is headed by Professor Ray A. Gapuz who is one of the most sought-after lecturers in the country. It claims to be the only nursing review center in the country that uses a fully-functional on-line registration system and a computerized test scanner that simulates the checking system of the CGFNS and NCLEX exams. Its review classes are aired nationwide through satellite technology.
St. Louis Review Center
St. Louis is also one of the most popular nursing review centers in the city. It offers review for CGFNS, TOEFL/TSE and NCLEX.
There are various nursing review centers in Davao City and with the increasing number of nursing graduates here and in neighboring areas, all of these centers get their own share of reviewees. However, only those who opt for the review centers that offer a comprehensive and surefire review classes and techniques and which provide qualified lecturers make the grade. The others are just plain lucky.
