Angelite Nurses

The Pinoy nursing community in Oslo is reeling from an allegation that Filipino nurses were involved in cheating in a nursing exam conducted by a local college here.

The allegation stemmed from a report from the local paper, Dagavisen, quoting a Filipino nurse called “Romeo” revealing that he was part of cheating in an exam held by the Høgskolen i Vestfold in 2002 with the help of his recruiter, Rizalina Jenssen.

“Romeo” alleged that Jenssen was present during the exam and was giving his answers to other recruits of ASOR to make sure that they pass the exams and make them eligible to work in Norway as nurses.

Rizalina Jenssen is the owner of the recruitment agency, ASOR, that recruits nurses from the Philippines to work in Oslo.

Outraged by the allegations, around 50 nurses from Oslo met at the Philippine embassy last Friday to discuss what they are going to do about the revelations that they claim had tarnished the image of Filipino nurses in Norway.

The nurses belonging to two major nursing organizations, the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) and the Filippinsk Integrering og Interessegruppe (FIIG), are considering launching a signature campaign condemning the allegations of cheating and calling for an investigation of the matter.

In the meeting at the embassy, Helen Locsin, leader of FIIG admitted that the scandal has affected all Filipino nurses in Norway.

“We are here to find a solution on how we can uplift the credibility of Filipino nurses and to stop the allegations kung hindi tutuo,” she said.

PNA leader Cynthia Baluyot said she seriously doubts the truth behind the allegations but she called an investigation of the college that conducted the probe.

Both Jenssen and the Vestfold College have denied that the cheating took place in separate newspaper reports.

The Statautorisasjonkontor (SAFH) called the college to verify the report and had been reassured that the allegations had no basis.