UCIAN Nursing Graduates Learned Competencies and Employability Mapping in the Healthcare Sector

Abstract

A higher educational institution offering the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program needs to trace the relevance of its curriculum to the requirements of the healthcare industry where its graduates intend to work or exercise their profession. This study determined the employability of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) graduates for th school years 2017-2020, with the purpose of developing the program-level intervention plan to strengthen the educational services provied to the students.

This study utilized the descriptive survey research design with twenty-two (22) Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) graduates of the University of Cebu-Banilad from 2017 to July 2020. This study was conducted at organizations or healthcare institutions where the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) graduates of UC-Banilasd were employed during the survey. The instrument used in this study is the modified CHED Graduate Tracer Study [GTS] survey questionnaire. The administration of the Graduate Tracer Tool (GTS) together with the Informed Consent Form was done using the Google Form in which the link was submitted through the Facebook Messenger of the BSN alumni. There were also target respondents who visited the University, and they accomplished the survey tool, and retrieval was done after that.  The simple percentage, weighted mean was used to analyze the data. The researchers ensured that the ethical principles of beneficence, non-maleficence, justice, and autonomy were adhered to in the conduct.

The result shows that more of the graduate respondents belonged to the age bracket of 24 to 25 years old, graduated in 2019, took the BSN degree because they were inspired by a role model, attended the Intravenous Training and Blood Transfusion, while the majority of of them were females, single, passed the Philippine Nurse Licensure Examination (PNLE) and pursued advanced studies for professional development. In terms of employment status, more of them had regular or permanent jobs, were able to find a job in less than a month through information from friends, and earned a gross monthly income of  Php20,000.00 to below Php 25,000.00. At the same time, those who were unemployed revealed that they pursued advanced studies. On the other hand, they worked locally as professionals and viewed the BSN program of UC as relevant to their first job and that their job was related to the BSN course. Predominantly, they learned communication skills that they learned in college as useful in their first job, they accepted the job because of the salaries and benefits.

Moreover, the respondents divulged that they greatly manifested the College of Nursing's vision as a leading producer of accessible and quality nursing; the College of Nursing's mission to maintain a healthy educational setting that fosters quality; the College of Nursing's goals in adapting competency standards in instruction learning resources, and educational services, promoting leadership among faculty in the service of the community, and fostering a pool of highly motivated competent and compassionate faculty and students in the pursuit of personal and professional development; the College of Nursing core values (nurturing, unity, respect, service, excellence); the BSN Program Educational Objectives (PEOs), stipulations in the CHED Memorandum Order [CMO] No. 15, Series of 2017 for Bachelor of Science in Nursing [BSN] program and the performance indicators for the BSN program. Moreover, they greatly attained the BSN Program Outcomes (POs). Therefore, the graduates of the BSN program of UC-Banilad for the school years 2017 to 2020 were employable in different healthcare entities and could practice their nursing profession. Likewise, they exhibited the nurse's desired competencies and graduate attributes, indicating that the curriculum is in line with the established requirements by the regulatory bodies and the healthcare industry.