Interesting Perspective on US Nursing from The Korea Times
Recent research notes that the trend of foreign-trained nurses entering the U.S. work force in recent years, often from lower-income countries with overburdened health care systems, is still going strong.
Using 1990 and 2000 U.S. Census data, researchers found foreign-trained nurses made up 8.8 percent of all new registered nurses in the United States in 1990 and 15.2 percent in 2000. In 2000, 21 percent of foreign-trained RNs originated from low-income countries, a doubling of the rate since 1990. In addition, the rate of foreign-trained RNs originating from Africa tripled during that time period.
“The prospect for higher wages overseas attracts talented local workers to the field of nursing, which may increase local and worldwide nursing supply,” said the one study’s authors, who cautioned against prohibiting nurses from leaving their home countries to work elsewhere. “The implications of policy changes should be carefully considered to avoid unintended consequences.”
The article below talks about why that’s such a good thing. I found that outsider’s perspective good to hear.
So, immigrant nurses are in every way as qualified as their American counterparts and also have the added advantage of being bi- and multilingual and willing to work shifts that American RNs usually shun (overnight and weekends). America needs to welcome overseas nursing professionals who are ready, eager and able to shore up the current shortage so that Americans can receive the kind of medical care they not only want but also deserve. At present, due to Schedule A retrogression since last November, immigrant RNs and PTs who have been waiting years for their chance to come and work in the US are unable to obtain a work visa and their lives are in limbo. Other countries such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Kuwait and UAE openly welcome and recruit RNs and PTs with hassle free visa procedures and offer extremely competitive compensation packages and America will lose the opportunity to hire many of these workers if it doesn’t act soon to end retrogression.
Read the article here: The Korea Times : Fixing Broken Health Care System