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R.A. No. 7164, otherwise known as the “Philippine Nursing Act of 1991”, has advisedly criminalized the act of “any person who undertakes in-service educational programs or who conducts review classes for both local and foreign examinations without permit/clearance from the Philippine Nursing Association, the Board of Nursing and appropriate office or officer of the Department of Labor and Employment” (Sec. 30 [b], R.A. 7164) with the end in view of checking the proliferation of review centers which operate without permits or licenses and yet exact exorbitant review fees from reviewees.

The establishment and operation of nursing review centers should be regulated in order to prevent scheming and unscrupulous persons from taking advantage of reviewees.

WHEREFORE, the Board of Nursing hereby promulgates the following Guidelines for the establishment and operation of review centers for prospective nurse examinees pursuant to Section 30(b) of R.A. No. 7164.

SECTION 1.       Authority to establish and operate — Any person, whether natural or juridical, may be authorized to establish and operate a nursing review center by the Board of Nursing subject to the approval of the PRC upon observance and compliance with the conditions and requirements provided herein:

SEC, 2.   Categories of Applicants — Applicants who desire to establish and operate a nursing review center to conduct review classes for both local and foreign examinations for nurses may be classified into two (2) categories:

a)         Schools, colleges or universities established/created by the State or by operation of law recognized by the Government and authorized to offer the Nursing Course

b)         Natural or juridical persons whose primary purpose is to conduct review classes for prospective examinees in local Nurse Licensure Examination (NLE), for prospective examinees (Registered Nurses) for the issuance of Certificate of Graduate of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) and prospective examinees (Registered Nurses) in Nursing Commission Licensing Examination (NCLEX) in the USA.

SEC. 3.   Procedure for the issuance of a permit —

a)         Application for permit to establish and operate a Nursing Review Center shall be filed with the Board of Nursing (BON). An inspection fee shall be charged and collected by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) in accordance with its rules and regulations.

b)         The applicant shall, before filing the application, secure clearances from the Philippine Nurses Association and the appropriate office or officer of the Department of Labor and Employment.

c)         The application shall be accompanied by an authentic or authenticated copy of the certificate of registration from the Securities and Exchange Commission if registered as a corporation or partnership or an authentic or authenticated copy of certificate of registration of trade/business name from the Bureau of Domestic Trade if registered as a sole proprietorship.

In the case of State colleges and universities, the application shall be accompanied by a copy of their charters and in the case of private colleges and universities, an authentic copy of their certificate of registration issued by the SEC and authentic or authenticated copy of certificate of recognition issued by the DECS/CHED.

SEC. 4.   Additional documents to be appended to the application — In addition to the documents required to be appended under Section 3, hereof, the applicants shall likewise append the following documents:

a)         Organizational set-up of the Review Center which will manage the review program;

b)         Syllabus of fundamental subjects for review showing the topics/contents/areas covered as well as indicating the contents/areas/topics by the review covered by the local Nurse Licensure Examination (NLE), CGFNS and NCLEX;

c)         Schedule of fees to be collected from reviewees;

d)         Bio-data of Director/Head of Staff of Review Center and Reviewers and their latest (2 x 2) photographs.

In addition to the above enumerated requirements, natural or juridical persons whose primary purpose is to conduct nursing review classes, shall submit the following:

a)         Financial Statement prepared and signed by a Certified Public Accountant;

b)         Proof of ownership of or lease contract of building or portion of building where the review center is established or to be established and operated;

c)         Inventory of facilities used or to be used in the review center.

SEC. 5.   Inspection — The Board of Nursing shall, within 30 days from the filing of the application with all the documents required appended thereto, inspect or cause to be inspected the premises of the review center to determine compliance with the requirements and conditions for the establishment and/or operation of the Nurse Review Center.

If the applicant is found to be qualified, the Board of Nursing shall, upon payment of the registration fee and approval by the PRC, issue or cause the issuance to the applicant of a permit to establish a Nursing Review Center and a license to operate such Center.

The license to operate shall be renewable every year upon payment of the prescribed fee.

SEC. 6.   Qualification of Reviewers — A Reviewer must:

a)         be a Filipino citizen;

b)         be a registered nurse with a valid certificate of registration and a current professional license;

c)         be a member of the professional association of nurses accredited by PRC;

d)         be a holder of a Master’s degree in Nursing;

e)         have at least 6 years teaching experience in the field of specialization he/she is reviewing.

SEC. 7.   Nursing Review Program — The review programs shall state:

a)         The general and specific purpose/s;

b)         The fundamental subjects of the review;

c)         Description of the contents/topics of the subjects for review;

d)         Methodology to be used by the reviewer;

e)         Number of hours to be devoted to each subject;

f)          Evaluation.

SEC. 8.   Program implementation —

a)         The number of hours to be devoted to the program covering the five (5) fundamental subjects for review shall not be less than 100 hours.

b)         The ratio between Reviewer and reviewees shall be one Reviewer for not more than 100 reviewees.

c)         The reviewer of a particular subject shall endeavor to stress, emphasize the promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative aspects in the care and management of patients.

SEC. 9.   Facilities and Resources — The Nursing Review Center shall be provided with the following:

a)         Classrooms which must be well-ventilated, lighted and airconditioned.

b)         Classrooms shall be provided/furnished with comfortable desks, chairs, black or white boards and audio-visual aids such as projectors and tapes; printing equipment such as mimeographing machines;

c)         Instructional materials/handouts and reference books shall be made available to reviewees;

d)         Comfort rooms and water facilities.

SEC. 10. Fees to be charged — The Registered Nursing Review Center is hereby authorized to collect from each reviewee the amount of not more than P1,800.00 for the review program for the Nursing Licensure Examination and the amount of not more than P2,000.00 each for the review program for CGFNS and NCLEX.

SEC. 11. Records and Reports — The Registered Nursing Review Center shall submit to the BON on or before the end of January of each year an Annual Report containing the following information/data:

a)         Names of reviewees for each class/section in a particular review group/session;

b)         Schedule of review classes for every review group/session;

c)         List of reviewers and subjects handled;

d)         List of reviewees indicating school/college/university and year where and when graduated;

e)         Names of reviewees who successfully passed NLE, CGFNS and NCLEX Examinations.

SEC. 12. Any person who violates Section 30 (b) of R.A. 7164 shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not less than Ten Thousand (P10,000.00) Pesos or not more than Forty Thousand (P40,000.00) Pesos or imprisonment of not less than 1 year or not more than 6 years, or both, in the discretion of the Court.

SEC. 13. Transitory Provision — All existing Nursing Review Centers shall comply with the requirements and conditions herein provided within a period of 6 months from the effectivity of this Guidelines.

SEC. 14. Effectivity — This Guidelines shall take effect after 15 days from its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation, whichever is earlier.

Adopted: 18 Dec. 1996