This is a problem US healthcare doesn't need

A potential pool of 17,000 nurses, sorely needed in the US is quarantined.

The Philippine government is to appeal a move by the US to ban some 17,000 nurses who passed the 2006 nursing examination amid allegations of mass cheating.

The United States Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) issued the temporary ban this week insisting that Filipino nurses retake sections of the 2006 examination where mass cheating took place.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Friday ordered Labor Secretary Arturo Brion to appeal the decision.

The order comes after a nursing review centre disclosed it had leaked answers to some students who took the examinations.

The scandal rocked the country's medical profession and cast a shadow over the quality of its nurses, who are in high demand overseas, especially in the United States, Europe and the Middle East.

The story goes on to say the students will be re-tested, so the ban may be short lived, but my guess is the nurses are now more likely to opt for the UK or other European countries since they'll consider this ban a slap in the face.

Its quite unfortunate, but demanding re-examination before authorizing these graduates to work in the US or anywhere else only makes sense.

Its quite unfortunate in another aspect. A couple years ago I was hospitalized for two weeks, twice, after major surgeries. One week I was in intensive care. During those hospital stays I had a large number of nurses attend me around the clock. They were all very good at their jobs. They were all, with the exception of one male nurse, Filipinas.

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