West Visayas State University (WVSU) honored the four topnotchers and new board passers for the 100% passing rate of the College of Nursing (CON) Batch 2024 in the recent Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination (PNLE) during the first Monday of the month flag raising ceremony held earlier today, Dec. 2, 2024.
This performance also marked the fifth consecutive year of the University being a top performing nursing school.
Dr. Madonna Palmes, CON dean, invited the CON faculty and staff to be recognized by the WVSU community, while Prof. Aj Khaner Rendaje, CON faculty member, introduced CON Batch 2024, also known as Batch Zephyr.
The four topnotchers who were acknowledged are the following: Ma. Irish Silvestre – Rank 8 (91%), Robert Matthew Opong – Rank 9 (90.80%), Karen Joy Oscares – Rank 9 (90.80%) and Richard Olano, Jr. – Rank 10 (90.60%).
Dr. Joselito Villaruz, WVSU President, recalled in his speech that Batch Zephyr was the batch of first year nursing students when he became the university’s president.
“[This batch is] the crowning moment for my administration,” added Pres. Villaruz.
Aside from his pride and gratitude on this remarkable feat, Pres. Villaruz also expressed his only request to Batch 2024 in relation to giving back to the university.
“My only prayer [perhaps] is some of you might stay a little longer in the Philippines to serve our countrymen. In fact, this has been a call of everyone from all sectors for you, our graduates, to help narrow the gap in meeting our healthcare needs,” said Pres. Villaruz.
Dr. Celina Gellada, Medical and Allied Sciences VP, also encouraged Batch Zephyr to give back to the university, especially for those with the passion to teach or take their master’s degree in the College of Nursing graduate program.
“This is a product not only of your hard work, dedication, and persistence, but also [that] of the faculty and staff,” said Dr. Gellada.
Ma. Irish Silvestre, PNLE topnotcher at rank 8th with a 91% passing rate, expressed her appreciation to the entire WVSU community for the unwavering support and guidance throughout their entire nursing school journey.
“You accepted us like baby birds, and let us go like full grown eagles ready to fly. We are beyond grateful of all your service, support, belief, and prayers,” said Silvestre.
Silvestre also highlighted the challenges that her batch underwent, such as having limited practical applications due to an online learning set-up for two years brought about by the pandemic. Nevertheless, she spoke of emerging as competitive nurses despite these limitations.
“WVSU CON, we [Batch Zephyr] can attest that truly you are living the mission of making world-class nurses. We are so privileged to bring back the honor to you and to live up to the tradition of excellence,” concluded Silvestre.
The WVSU CON clinched the top spot among nursing schools in the country with a 100% passing rate in the PNLE.
The Professional Regulation Commission released the November 2024 PNLE results last Nov. 28 with 29,349 passers out of 34,534 takers and an 84.99% national passing rate.
