PLM calls for a fifth-year extension for graduating nursing students

from Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila website

The Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) mandated a fifth-year extension for its fourth-year nursing students who were supposed to graduate last year.

The decision made the PLM Nursing students of Batch 2018 to balance board exam preparation with on-site schoolwork and hospital duty.

“The university was firm on training the nursing department for the real thing – on-site hospital duty – as they could not do so in the online setup,” Lydia Flores, a fourth-year nursing student who was part of the batch, said.

“It was a tough ride because nursing is not only knowledge-based but mostly skill-based,” her classmate Estrin Valencia added.

Despite being saddened by the news of having to push through for another year, Flores and Valencia thought the university’s decision to extend their program for another academic year was rational.

“We attended to real patients with real health concerns, so the online learning alone would not have really sufficed,” Valencia said.

Flores concurred, stating that once they leave the academe, they will be dealing and caring for real people, not just mannequins.

“They want to hone our skills in this field. They want us to be nurses who are competent enough to deliver care to our patients once we finish this course and have claimed our licenses,” she added.

Despite the lack of an official memorandum and unwillingness to be interviewed regarding the matter, the students assume that the PLM made this decision to extend the number of required hospital service hours by one year so that they might get practical experience equal to the time they spent in online courses.

by Sophia Aliermo