Pangasinan State University–Bayambang Campus Institute of Nursing: Where Bayambang Sends Its Future Healers

Pangasinan State University–Bayambang Campus Institute of Nursing: Where Bayambang Sends Its Future Healers

There is another reason Bayambang can take pride in its schools: here, education does not end when a student receives a diploma. It travels—with the graduate—to hospitals, clinics, communities and, sometimes, to countries far beyond the town where the journey began.

A shining example is the Institute of Nursing of Pangasinan State University–Bayambang Campus, recognized to be among the country's top five performing institutions.

The history of the PSU Bayambang Institute of Nursing began in 2003, when Dr. Clarita G. Jimenez, then Campus Executive Director, and Dr. Myrna P. Miguel, then Program Dean, initiated the application with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to establish a nursing program. Their vision was to provide poor but deserving students with access to quality nursing education and an opportunity to pursue a profession in healthcare.

In 2017, Dr. Cielo C. Fernandez took over as Program Dean. In 2023, the leadership was passed on to the current dean, Dr. Maria Berenice Glizzle M. Catabay. The institution’s roots are deeply local: the people who helped establish the nursing program were themselves from Bayambang, including Dr. Fernandez and Dr. Macaraeg, who were among its pioneer faculty members.

The campus began offering its Bachelor of Science in Nursing program in 2004. Since then, generations of student nurses have learned not only inside classrooms and skills laboratories, but also through actual clinical and community experiences in hospitals and health facilities, including Bayambang District Hospital and other major institutions in the region.

The results are increasingly visible. In the November 2025 Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination (PNLE), PSU-Bayambang produced its first-ever nursing topnotcher when Royce Mark Cabaccan Ibassan placed 9th nationwide. The Institute also posted a 98.81% passing rate and was recognized among the country's top five performing institutions in its category during the November 2025 PNLE.

Just a few months later, the Institute posted another impressive result. In the February 2026 PNLE, 100% of its first-time examinees passed, while the campus recorded an 80% institutional passing rate—substantially above the 44.24% national passing rate reported for that examination.

Behind those numbers are teachers, clinical mentors, parents, and students who spend years preparing for one of the most demanding professions: caring for people when they are at their most vulnerable.

The Institute's pursuit of quality has also been formally recognized. In 2026, PSU-Bayambang's Institute of Nursing earned Level IV re-accreditation from the Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities in the Philippines (AACCUP) after a comprehensive evaluation covering instruction, students, extension, research and linkages, and planning and development.

Among its latest achievements is receiving the Trailblazer Award from the Philippine Nurses Association - Pangasinan Chapter. Its interns have also won in various national and international nursing conferences.

A town's greatness is not measured only by buildings, awards or famous names, but also by the people it prepares to serve others. As graduates make their own names here and abroad, they carry the Institute’s lessons of competence, compassion, and service.