Filipino Nursing Herald

Both sides of the immigration debate in the US are set to hold rallies on May 1, Labor Day. The rallies come as the White House and US Congress continued to struggle to find a common ground on immigration reform. Immigration advocates, whose raliies last year attracted millions of participants, are set to hold similar marches all over the US. There are doubts, however, if the turnout would match that of last year. People on the other side of the immigration debate will hold marches on the same day, in fact, in some states, the groups are likely to cross paths. The turnout on May 1 would serve as an indicator of Americans' support of immigration reform. Washington has been busy meeting both Republican and Democrat legislators to push a proposed immigration bill that would provide amnesty to illegals already in the US, but stiff fines, back taxes, and a pricey fee for citizenship application, awaits them. The plan also proposes to do away with a previous policy that allowed immigr

News about US Republican congressmen starting to back off from restrictive conditions they've earlier imposed on immigration reform legislation is good news for local nurses. This is a step forward towards the resolution of dispute over immigration reforms in the US. Although there are plenty more hurdles ahead, at least discussions, mostly conducted in closed quarters, have been productive. A Senate vote is scheduled in May towards the creation of an immigration legislation, to which the retrogression of Schedule A jobs (such as nursing and physical therapy) is closely linked. The immigration reform bill, the details of which has been kept under wraps while closed-door meetings have been ongoing, may include provisions concerning the retrogression or, if not, hopefully, will clear the path for pending retrogression-related bills such as the Skil bill and the Strive Act. Here are some links concerning the immigration reform updates: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/04/23/america

Minority Nurse recently announced a list of top ten cities and regions in the US that offer the highest salaries and the most number of opportunities for nurses. Among the top ten include (in alphabtical order) Atlanta, GA; Baltimore, MD; Boston, MA; Charlotte, NC; Houston, TX; Las Vegas, NV; Oakland, CA; Phoenix and Meza, AZ; Tampa and St. Petersburg, FL; and West Palm Beach, FL. Summary: Atlanta, GA Annual Mean Salary for RNs: $53,360 Cost of Living Index: 97.7 ( Lower is better ) Future Trends: Demand for nurses in Georgia will increase an estimated 51% from the year 2000 to 2020. Baltimore, MD Annual Mean Salary for RNs: $70,100 Cost of Living Index: 119.5 Future Trends: Demand for nurses in Maryland will increase an estimated 36% from the year 2000 to 2020. Boston, MA Annual Mean Salary for RNs: $70,460 Cost of Living Index: 136.4 Future Trends: Demand for nurses in Massachusetts will increase an estimated 29% from the year 2000 to 2020. Charlotte, NC Annual Mean Salary for RNs: $

With retrogression in effect, Filipino nurses--wishing to work in the US--will have to wait until US lawmakers finally allocate new visas again. In the meantime, here's a valuable read from minoritynurse.com about the best cities in the US to start a nursing career. Some of the best cities include New York City (largest), Las Vegas (fastest-growing), Los Angeles (most diverse), Houston (most Magnet hospitals), Fort Myers and Cape Coral (largest population over 65). Click here to read the story .

The number of applicants for nursing schools in the US is so overwhelming, one college in California says it can only accommodate those at the bottom of its waiting list in 2011. Cuesta College officials say they have stopped accepting applicants for its nursing program and are looking for ways to expand their capacity. An executive of the California Institute for Nursing and Health Care adds that the problems in Cuesta reflect a statewide situation where too few education slots are available. In 2005, nursing programs statewide turned away up to 14,000 qualified applicants. Read the full story here.

It seems a number of visitors to our site were not able to download or open the list of Philippine nursing schools because the file was encoded in Microsoft 2007 format. Our good friend, Noel, brought this to our attention. We've already fixed the problem and the file is now downloadable in PDF format. You can download the file here . In case you don't have a PDF reader, you can get a free reader by following this link: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html .

Want a quick way to memorize the specific functions of each lobe of the brain? Here's a handy one-page bullet list, which you can print out, and use to quickly remember which part of the brain is responsible for short-term or long-term memory and more. Download this one-page document here .

Here's a list of contacts and application requirements asked for by different hospitals in Manila. We'll add to the list from time to time. If you need information for a hospital that's not on our list, please send us a note in the comments box or through the Forum . ( Thanks to Bing Gaffud for this list. ) Manila Doctors * Resume, TOR, diploma, board rating (the one that was mailed to us), license or certificate. Put in a long brown envelope with your name and telephone number outside PGH - 521-8450 * Dean's form: TOR, board rating, RLE. Resume with 2x2 photo (black & white), certification from previous employer (if any), PRC license, PNA membership * Submit in a big brown envelope to the DNRD office Mon. to fri. 7am to 5:30pm (UPDATED 07/20/07) UST Hospital - Espana, Manila - 7313001 (loc. 2454) * Resume, TOR, board rating, license and certificate, RLE, and application letter addressed to Mr. Ferdinand C. Maagkasi (head of Human Resources * Bring the Original do

More than 3,000 underprivileged Filipino children and adults recently received much-needed medical care, thanks in part to four nurses from St. Francis Hospital in Blue Island. The group traveled with the Indiana Philippine Medical Association, made up of more than 100 physicians, nurses, technicians and civilians. During the three-day medical mission to Aklan, Philippines, in late January, they provided free medical and dental care. The team performed nearly 200 surgeries. Full story here.

Asian American nurses are changing the face of the nursing industry in San Diego and other parts of southern California in the US. About 15 percent of registered nurses in San Diego are Asian or Pacific Islander, compared to 12 percent of the total population. In one hospital, Kaiser Permanente, the ratio is higher. Of 1,565 nurses working for Kaiser Permanente in San Diego, a third, or 528, are Asian, according to the New America Media. The Philippines continues to be the leading source of nurses in the US. The Philippines is known to produce more nursing graduates and have more nursing schools than any other country in the world – 186 with the combined ability to graduate 20,000 nurses a year. Read the full story here .

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on Tuesday that it has received enough H-1B petitions to meet the congressionally mandated cap for fiscal year 2008 (FY 2008). USCIS will use a computer program to randomly select applications from those received on April 2, 2007 and April 3, 2007. Petitions received on those dates but not selected by the computer will be rejected and returned along with the filing fee(s). According to a USCIS release, the agency will use the following process to handle H-1B petitions subject to the FY 2008 cap: • USCIS has determined that as of April 2, 2007, it had received enough H-1B petitions to reach the FY 2008 H-1B cap and has set the “final receipt date” as April 2, 2007. • In keeping with its regulations, USCIS will subject H-1B petitions received on the “final receipt date” and the following day to a computer-generated random selection process. • USCIS will reject all cap-subject H-1B petitions for FY 2008 received on or after W

Some 10,000 of the 17,000 passers of the controversy-ridden June 2006 nursing licensure exams have registered for a retake, based on data provided by the Philippine labor department. Of this number, 9,450 have already registered for the special review classes arranged for the retakers by the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) in partnership with the Association of Deans of Philippine Colleges of Nursing (ADPCN). Today is the deadline for registration for the special review classes. Online registration is available at www.specialnursingreview.dole.gov.ph. Those filing for applications for the special voluntary re-take examination must submit the June 2006 Notice of Admission or NOA (if still available); photocopies of Certificate of Registration and Professional Identification Card, if issued already; photocopy of Transcript of Records; and photocopy of Birth Certificate. The examination fee for retakers of Tests III and V on June 11, 2007 has already been waived. The special exa

Candidates in the following jurisdictions may access their "unofficial" results via the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) NCLEX® Candidate Web site or through the NCLEX® Quick Results Line: Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia-PN, Georgia-RN, Illinois, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana-RN, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia-PN, Wisconsin, Wyoming. Your "unofficial" results will be available two business days after taking your examination. Via the web ($7.95) - Go to www.pearsonvue.com/nclex, sign in with your user name and password. After logging in, you will see your Current Activity. Under Recent Appointments, find the row with your current test, go to

Whether you're reviewing for the local board exams or for the NCLEX, this list of pathognomonic signs should be helpful to you. This table lists some of the common diseases and their pathognomonic signs. If you find this document useful, please leave us a little note. Visit the Filipino Nursing Herald regularly for other useful tips, news and other valuable resources. View and download the PDF file here .