By Nikko Dizon
Inquirer
Last updated 08:37pm (Mla time) 08/23/2007


MANILA, Philippines -- The demand for nurses in the United States will remain high for the next 10 years, according to an official of the US National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN).

An initial group of examinees took the National Council Licensure Examination at the first NCLEX testing center in the country on Thursday.

"The nursing shortage is still significant and research still indicates that there is a future anticipated shortfall of more than a million nurses in the US," Casey Marks, NCSBN associate executive director, told reporters in an interview.

The shortage is worldwide, according to Marks. In the US -- a preferred destination of many Filipino nurses -- "there is certainly a significant demand for a long period of time," he said.

With opportunities looming ahead, Marks said he would encourage more Filipinos to take up nursing as a profession.

"That's one of the reasons we are here," added Robert Whelan, president of Pearson Vue, which owns and operates NCLEX testing centers in various parts of the world, including the first center in the Philippines, located at the Trident Towers on Gil Puyat Avenue, Makati City.

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