NMI responds to global nursing shortage

(Second of two parts)

SAN FRANCISCO—Northern Marianas College president Tony Deleon Guerrero expressed confidence that the Global Education Strategic Initiatives—five gateway nursing programs—will lure international students into the CNMI, especially because ways have been identified to refer the graduates to possible employers in the mainland U.S.

Deleon Guerrero and NMC finance director Raaj Kurapati met on Nov. 4, 2004 with executives of California-based Pleasant Care Corp.—owner of about 50 skilled nursing homes throughout California and Nevada—which has guaranteed employment for the graduates.

Sedy Demesa, president of Willis Management Inc., which will be responsible in the recruitment of college-bound Asian students, said nursing has become one of the most rewarding and well-paying professions in the whole field of medicine.

A U.S. Department of Labor 2003 statistics noted that the annual mean salary for nurses is $51,230. This figure is calculated based on a full-time registered nurse working 40 hours a week for a total of 2,080 hours per year. This is a mean hourly RN salary of $24.63.

Deleon Guerrero said the GESI nursing programs, coupled by the prospects of a well-paying job, have the bright prospects of attracting international students, especially those from China, Korea, and the Philippines.

He explained that NMC and Willis Management have identified various possible markets for the five GESI gateway nursing programs, including college-bound high school graduates, healthcare-related professionals, foreign nursing graduates taking NCLEX, licensed and practicing doctors who want to take up nursing as a second profession, and nurse assistants.

Particularly, the five Gateway Nursing Programs seek out the following:

All high school graduates who wish to take the full two-year nursing course without any accreditation of previous courses taken from other colleges/universities under the Gateway 1;

All students who are graduates of another degree, preferably any healthcare-related professions such as Dentistry, Physical Therapy, Medical Technology, Pharmacy, and others under Gateway 2;

All nursing graduates who are eligible to take the RN board exam, NCLEX, and would want to attend review classes to improve the likelihood of success in the examination under Gateway 3;

All licenses and practicing doctors of medicine who want to take up nursing as a second profession under Gateway 4; and

All foreign or local students who want to be certified as nurse assistants.

Demesa said Gateways 2 and 4 are more likely to draw out the most number of enrollees from among the international student markets, noting recent reports from Asian countries, particularly in the Philippines, where an increasing number of licensed and practicing doctors and other health professionals are studying to be a nurse.

This trend has even prompted a study in the Philippines titled “The Philippine Phenomenon of Nursing Medics: Why Doctors are Becoming Nurses,” which was recently presented before a conference of the Education Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates in Washington, D.C.

Under the Gateway 2 program, healthcare professionals or graduates of any medical-related courses can complete the nursing program at a faster pace depending on how many courses had been credited either through transfer of credit or credits by examination. This means a qualified student can complete the nursing course in one full semester or in 3-4 months.

Licensed and practicing doctors, meanwhile, would have all their natural science and other related courses credited, giving them the chance to immediately proceed to taking the program requirements consisting of 47 credits under the Gateway 4 program.

Deleon Guerrero said GESI is the answer to the Babauta administration’s dream of making the CNMI a center of education excellence in the region.

“The education sector doesn’t only diversify the economy, it also helps insulate the economy from the normal economic ups and downs in tourism and apparel manufacturing industries.”

Demesa explained that the education is counter cyclical, “which means that the demand for education rises when other parts of the economy are in periods of decline.” She added that GESI “will provide a high quality education to international and local students who want to study in a U.S.-accredited college at a reasonable cost.” (Aldwin R. Fajardo)