1st International Research Conference for Nursing Students (IRCoNS)

It was indeed a momentous day for the advancement Nursing research in the Philippines last March 9-10, 2011 as researchers from the local and foreign research arena gathered at the University of Santo Tomas for the 1st International Research Conference for Nursing Students (IRCoNS) with the theme of “Stimulating Creative Minds towards New Frontiers in Nursing Research” was held at the St. Martin de Porres building of UST. The two-day conference composed of talks from highly-esteemed researchers, oral and poster presentations from local and international based nursing students. 

The activity started with the Opening Remarks of Fr. Pablo Tiong, the Vice-Rector of the university, whose talk focused on his appreciation for the nursing profession with slight delineation on the issues on the widely-discussed Reproductive health bill.

The opening remarks, which seemed like a sermon to me, was followed by the speech of the Keynote speaker, the Hon. Carmencita Abaquin, PhD, RN - the current Chairperson of the Board of Nursing (BON) of the Professional Regulation Commission and Chairperson of the ASEAN Joint Coordinating Committee for Nursing. In her talk, she thoroughly explained the functions of the PRC and BON, major nursing concerns such as the several nursing schools’ poor performance, and nurse migration.

w/ Prof. Watson

A plenary session was then called at the UST Medicine Cinematorium for the talk of Prof.Wendy Cross, PhD, RN from Monash University in Australia. In her lecture, entitled “Collaborative Investiagation: Research Beyond Borders”, she emphasized the role of the nurse in the research team and discussed about the basics of conducting collaborative researches.

The second plenary session came from a local professor at the UST College of Nursing, the dynamic and highly energetic, Prof. Allan de Guzman,PhD. His presentation, which I highly applaud for having very interactive rapport with the audience, talked about the importance of appraising a research study, emphasizing on the idea of the research’s implication as public domain, subject to constructive criticism to find the value and worth of a paper.

A talk from Prof.Teresita Irigo-Barcelo,PhD, RN entitled “Bridging the Gap, Building Links between Nursing Interventions, Research, and Practice” explored the importance of evidence-based practice and the thought of developing a culture of research in the Philippines

w/ Angee and Jay Jay

The fourth plenary session was from Prof. Roger Watson, PhD, RN, the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Clinical Nursing who talked about his forte, writing for publication. Here he discussed the use of international guidelines, legal issues on plagiarism, and the general process of publication. 

The second day of the conference was started again by a plenary session from Prof.Erlinda Castro-Palaganas, PhD, RN, president of the Philippine Nursing Research Society who talked about qualitative researches, exploring a person’s feelings and impressions and noting phenomena among the populations. Her speech actually convinced me in doing a qualitative research instead of the quanitative onethat I’m currently working on. Regrets really come at the end, too bad for me.

The 6th plenary session came from Prof. Lourdes Marie Tejero, PhD, RN, head of the UP Manila Research and Creative Writing Program. She emphasized thinking out of the box in terms of developing new practices and inventions helpful to nursing practice. Personally, I really would like to comment on her youthful vibe as she talked on the stage, the pleasant appearance, confidence, and poise I would not forget. 

After the plenary sessions, concurrent sessions on Nursing Therapeutics, Health Promotion, Maternal and Child Nursing, Administration in Nursing, Nursing Education, Oncologic and Gerontologic Nursing, and Caring for Special Population and Care for the Chronically Ill Patients were participated by student nurses from various institutions namely: University of St. Lasalle- Bacolod, Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, Holy Angel University, Far Eastern University, Aklan State University, Trinity University of Asia, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Pasig, University of the Cordilleras, Arellano University, Bicol University, Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau, Southern Luzon State University, Cavite State University, Monash University, Saint Louis University, Asian Social Institute, Our Lady of Fatima University, and Universidad de Santa Isabel. 

I know I may be accused of bias because of what I’m going to say but I would just like to give my praises to the following studies:

Samsara: The Lived Experiences of Patients with Osteoarthritis Undergoing Yoga Therapy by Cuadram Cuarda, Cuartero, Cucueco, Cuevas, Cunanan and Custodio from the University of Santo Tomas. I personally like the idea of the prism used to illustrate your study. It was ingenious.

Speaking the Unspeakable: The Lived Experience of Incest Victims by Ramirez, Ramos, Ranera, Rapisura, Raymundo, and Rayos del Sol from the University of Santo Tomas. Tackling a sensitive topic must have really been difficult, especially finding respondents for your study. Also, I would like to commend the guy presentor since he actually memorized the study. Man,it must’ve taken pure hard work.

Concurrent sessions by Prof. Roger Watson and Prof. Carol Huston talked about “Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing” and the “Leadership Journey”, respectively.

The last plenary session was once again called for the talk of Prof.Carol Huston, MSN, MPA, DPA who enjoined the audience in topics such as thinking on a global perspective, using technology to facilitate mobility and interactional process, exercising political will, ensuring leadership succession among nurses.

The conference ended with a candle lighting ceremony led by the organizers of the event, participated by the different institutions, schools, and universities. Of course, I would like to extend my congratulations to my co-organizers, staff, faculty, and to our student council, the Nursing Central Board of Students for having this highly-commendable feat. More power and I’m looking forward for the 2nd International Conference for Nursing Students!

* This post will not and shall not be published in the any publication and is not representative to the UST College of Nursing students. Opinions and comments expressed are the personal views of the author.