New CMO on Nursing

The Commission on Higher Education has released its latest mandate on the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) course. Known as CHED Memorandum Order Number 14, series of 2009 (CMO No. 14, s. 2009)  with subject: Policies and Standards for Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Program, it was signed by current CHED Chairman Emmanuel Angeles on 28 April 2009. CMO 14, s. 2009 replaces CMO Nos. 5, s. 2008. The latest CHED Memorandum Order will take effect starting this coming schoolyear, 2009-2010, fifteen days after its publication in the official Gazette or in a newspaper of national circulation.

Lower Number of Units and Hours

CMO 14, s. 2009 still retains the same number of units in general education with 87 units. There is a significant difference in the number of units in the latest CMO for Professional Courses: Wherein CMO 5 has 125 units, CMO 14 has only 115. The new curriculum also has 3 less units in terms of RLE. From 49 in CMO 5, it now has 46 with a specific segregation as the number of RLE units are divided between Lab Skills and Clinic.

From Specialized to General

The Professional Courses in the latest CMO have become more general. One example is Teaching Strategies in Health Education becoming Health Education only (with a corresponding decrease in its number units— from 12 to 8).

Another example is NCM 104: Care of Clients Across the Lifespan with Problems in Perception and Coordination, Adjustment and Maladaptive Behaviors. The new CMO now modifies and divides it into two courses. NCM 104 is now Care for clients with Problems in Inflammatory and Immunologic Response, Perception and Coordination while NCM 105, which has been previously an RLE subject, is now Care of Clients with Maladaptive Patterns of Behavior.

Electives I and II are also added in the new curriculum. Elective I offers Parent Child Nursing, Spiritual Care Nursing, and Hospice Palliative Care while Elective II offers Acute/Critical Care Nursing, Quality Health Care Nursing, and Care for the Chronically Ill and the Older Person.
           
Development

The formulation of CMO 14, s. 2009 is the result of the recommendations of the Technical Working Group on Nursing Education of  the CHED. An early draft has been also presented to the schools from various regions through a series of consultations. The previous memorandum, CMO 5, s. 2008  has received great criticism from different educational institutions due to its heavy demand on the number of units and RLE. CMO 14, s. 2009 is said to be a balanced solution to the previous CMO.

The faculty of AdNU's College of Nursing will have a meeting this May to discuss the new curriculum, provide evaluation, and plan on its implementation.