Thousands of nursing students nationwide underwent a rigorous two-day Nurse Licensure Examination (NLE) over the weekend.

At Manila Central University (MCU), around 1,500 nursing students took the exam from Saturday to Sunday.

The 500-item exam has five parts, with parts one to three given last Saturday and the remaining two administered on the last day.

The five-part exam are the Community Health Nursing (Nursing Practice I), and Maternal and Child Care (Nursing Practice II), while the last three practicals focus more on the psychological and psychosocial features of an adult.

Gio Lalisan, a student from De La Salle Medical and Health Sciences Institute, said that he felt a huge sigh of relief after completing the two-day exam.

“It felt like a thorn has been removed from my chest,” Lalisan said.

He also noted that he feels at ease now that his four months of intense studying have come to an end.

Winsly Bautista, a nursing graduate from Our Lady of Fatima University in Valenzuela City, expressed feeling “mixed emotions” as she enters the waiting period before the release of the licensure exam results.

“I’m happy that it’s over, but at the same time, there’s anxiety as I now wait for the results,” Bautista shared.

She added that the results of the Nurse Licensure Examination are expected to be released between 28 November and 1 December.

The NLE held last weekend was the second batch of nursing exam takers. The first batch took the exam on May 6-7 in various testing centers across the Philippines.