[Mason]

I am quite surprised by the comments made by some of the U.S. nurses in this discussion.Rather than one or two of you making racist comments about foreign nurses,(comments about "grass huts" etc),you should be proud that foreign nurses want to work in your country. As a UK registered nurse (with a U.S.A RN licence too) looking for employment in the USA,i find this attitude rather disconcerting. There are good nurses and bad nurses in every hospital in the world,no matter what country they are from!
And ,yes,you guys are poorly paid with poor conditions,but try working in the UK.We have just the same recruiting problems as the USA ,if not worse!
Also it may be worthwhile realising that other countries in the world actually offer BETTER nurse training than currently offered in the USA.
American nurses pride yourselves in the fact that we want to work in your country!
Here endeth my sermon

[Josefin]

Hmmm... As you may have read in my previous post I have been wondering about working in the states as a nurse. After I have read this- I can`t say that I feel very welcome! I will graduate from Uppsala university, one of Europes oldest and well known for high-quality reserarch and education. In Sweden we are greatful if nurses with another cultural background, are willing to work here. It`s simple: Any nurse who wants to work in Sweden, and does not have a Swedish licence, must get a permit to work here before they can start. This is given by the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare. It´s an individual process for every application, with exeption for nurses from other EC countries or countries with special general deals (Norway etc). This is a well working system, so I don`t quite see the problem here with this qualitytalk? There is a simple solution to the problem. Besides- I don`t think that it`s THAT fantastic to be able to work in the US that I would settle with less salary or benefits than an american nurse. To give nursing more respect is NOT a national concern but an INTERNATIONAL! We all need to help eachother to rise the salaries and conditions for nurses. Then it`s not a matter of from were you come from, but more about your skills! I bet that there are bad incompetent nurses from Sweden, UK, Burundi AND USA, as well as most of us are competent, dedicated and worth a lot more money...

[Josefin]

***
I differentiate between nurses from English speaking countries (Phyll) who choose to come here to live and those from third world countries who do not speak understandable English, do not understand instructions, and whose cultural background interferes with communicating effectively. I worked with one nurse who could not comprehend why a C-spine collar was needed for a patient whose neck had not been cleared. She couldn't understand why the patient needed to be in a collar when they hadn't yet had their x-rays! We need to start recruiting with U.S. nurses.
***

So- I assume this was it! I`m not from an englishspeaking country- happens to be from Sweden- so I can`t work in the US?! If my boyfriend wants to his postdoc at Stanford, I wont be able to come with him because I DON`T COME FROM AN ENGLISHSPEAKING COUNTRY??!! Well- I don`t think USA is an option anymore- maybe he will do it at Oxford instead. Oh no- I forgot- UK is an englishspeaking country too! Strange that they are trying to recruite us to come and work there aldready one year before graduation??!! I agree with the member from UK who reminded us that there ARE high quality universities outslide the borders of the US too, even if some people here seems to have a hard time understanding that...

[SkipConverse]

No way should we be bringing in nurses from another country.

[lv2ski]

[quote]Originally posted by imaRN
[b]phyll,These PRN nurses are not on hosp. committees,don't help to orient. new nurses and are not in charge ever, in short they come in: work, and go home, they have no "investment " in making our unit better. They also do not work holidays or weekends,
Well I for one feel like I just got slapped in the face!

I have to disagree a bit with this negatism towards PRNs, though I can understand you being upset that they are making that much more. I work as a PRN, I commit to 2 9-hour night
shifts a week and one w/e shift every other week. I also do care about my unit, attend meetings, do chg., etc. as do many of the prn's at my hospital. I am just sick of being stuck w/the eow
thing so I chose prn, plus I don't need bene's. We do holidays too. It is required. Having pierdiem workers is a great way to fill shifts. Especially when they usually don't get paid OT.

[lv2ski]

To the foreign nurses reading all of this in dismay, I must say that I think I am speaking for many of us when I say it is not about you personally. I am sure many of you are great nurses. It is the system Nursing as a profession is in dire need of improvement. The thought of our employers having swarms of foreigners coming over merely b/c retention is poor (b/c of poor work environments) is upsetting. We need to keep in ming that one good thing about nursing is that we can work almost anywhere, and for those wanting the experience of another country it is a great opportunity. I just don't want our employers manipulating us all by a quick bandaid fix to a bigger problem. They need to have safe staffing, decent pay, etc. and first retain present nurses, no matter where they are from.

[Neicee]

I am against the U.S. hiring nurses from other countries. There is a nursing shortage. I believe this can be corrected by increasing salaries, better schedules, and smaller patient loads. Let's take care of home instead of looking abroad!

[Level2Trauma]

If you think the working conditions are poor now; WAIT UNTIL WE HAVE AN INFLUX OF FOREIGN NURSES, we will all be fleeing the nursing profession. Just my opinion.

[Level2Trauma]

[quote]So- I assume this was it! I`m not from an englishspeaking country- happens to be from Sweden- so I can`t work in the US?! If my boyfriend wants to his postdoc at Stanford, I wont be able to come with him because I DON`T COME FROM AN ENGLISHSPEAKING COUNTRY??!! Well- I don`t think USA is an option anymore- maybe he will do it at Oxford instead. Oh no- I forgot- UK is an englishspeaking country too! Strange that they are trying to recruite us to come and work there aldready one year before graduation??!! I agree with the member from UK who reminded us that there ARE high quality universities outslide the borders of the US too, even if some people here seems to have a hard time understanding that... /QUOTE]

What's the fuss then, KEEP YOUR BUTT AT HOME!!!

[nar-S]

YES WHY NOT??? take out all the foreign nurses and let's see how you do??? most are even better that others.