The great demand plus the lure of attractive salary in countries such as America, Canada,United Kingdomand others made nursing a very attractive career to pursue for students. As the number of students enrolling for a nursing course dramatically increased so is the proliferation of institution offering nursing courses. The result: too many nursing graduates that do not receive adequate training and now can’t find jobs.

To improve the quality of nursing education, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) issued a new memorandum that would ensure the quality of nursing schools in the country. The 2009 CHED Memorandum No. 14 lists down new requirements that all educational institutions that offer nursing courses need to comply with. They are given three years after being issued a permit to complete the requirements.

The memo also ensures the quality of faculty members of nursing schools as it demands a detailed report of the credentials of the deans, nursing instructors. Nursing schools should also have base and affiliated hospitals. However the curriculum units and hospital hours required to students have been reduced.

This new memorandum also aims to identify poorly performing nursing schools and demand that it shut down their operations. The gauge for low performance will be based on the percentage of their graduates that passed the licensure examination for nurses.

To be allowed to continue operations, nursing schools need to maintain an average board exam passing rate of 30 percent for the next three years. This policy will start in 2013 and will only include first-time takers.

For CHED to approve a nursing school, these are the specific requirements:

The Dean should have a masteral degree in nursing, faculty members also need to have master’s degrees; there should be useful learning facilities such as a library and laboratory; and owned or partner tertiary base hospital where students can train.