The result for the nursing board exam that registered the most number of examinees in history is finally out! The Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) announced that a total of 39,455 out of 88,649 nursing graduates who took the exam now join the ranks of registered nurses.

The passing rate for the licensure examination taken last November 28 and 29 was 44.51%. Jovie Ann Alawas Decoyna of Baguio Central University got a rating of 89% making her the topnotcher for this batch. Meanwhile, Xavier University emerged as the top school by having the most number of students who passed the board exam.

Carmencita Abaquin is the head of the Nursing Regulatory Board (NRB). Other NRB members are Yolanda Arugay, Betty Merritt, Leonila Faire, Perla Po, Marco Antonio Sto.Tomas, and Amelia Rosales

Amidst the good news, the new set of registered nurses presents a new problem for the government as they join the present group of nurses that are having difficulty finding employment both here and abroad. To cope with the increasing number of unemployed nurses, a new program called NARS was recently launched.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) also advises nursing schools to come up with ways to ensure that their graduates are well competent.

The POEA suggests implementing more rigorous screening and training of Filipino nurses so they meet up with the standards of importing countries such as New Zealand.

View the complete list of successful examines here.