Crisis in Nursing!

Nurses General Nursing

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I am a student nurse from the Philippines and I have been recieving news letters via e-mail regularly. I am quite interested in the topic that was posted by the adminstrator. three days ago I have sent similar article or should I say a letter to the editor about the nursing crisis in the western countries particularly the United States.

We have been recieving a lot of news that there are shortage of nurses in the United States since year 2000 and we have been hearing a lot of filipino nurses that are deployed in the UK since 1998 (if I am not mistaken). And we always hear stories about the shortage of nurse by filipinos who have returned to the Philippines. And such news have triggered the minds of the people in here because there has been a massive recruitments of filipinor nurses to be deployed in the United States. And in fact, a lot of professionals here in the Philippines who had been earning a lot already, gave up their job just to grab this opportunity.

With the question raised "if it is a crisis or an opportunity" for us here in the Philippines it is a great opportunity that crisis or shortage of nurses in the United States has come, that if such issue is really true, (w/c I myself believe to be true since most of my Clinical Instructors were already in New York and other parts of the US, working as Nurses.)

But for me there were also bad effect in such crisis because most school of nursing here in the Philippines are taking advantage of the trend. Schools are offering 2-year program for a BSN degree for those professionals that asks high fees for them. The problem is, it reaches to the extent that incompetent nursing clinical instructors are hired just to fill up the demand. Incompetent in the sense that some are fresh graduates and some do not even have any masteral units. Nursing objectives for me seems to be going away if this issue is to be based. The objective of nursing which is to serve the humanit is overruled by the monetary reasons. in fact some competent clinical instructors are telling that there are really students especially in the special program students are not qualified to be a nurse by just looking into the attitude alone. It has been observed that their only reason of taking nursing is just to go abroad and I guess that should be given or placed into a big consideration because it might lead to producing of poor nursing performance in the future.

Last quesitons is! since all of you are mostly from the United States, IS there really a Nursing Shortage?

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Well good for you, you main concern seems to be the profession and not making a quick buck. No there is no shortage of nurses in the US. However there is a shortage of nurses who are willing to work at the bedside. Imported nurses are used to fill positions that US citizens refuse to fill because conditions are so bad.

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Yes we are entering an acute shortage period...I returned to working at the bedside and love it. The baby boomers (myself) included are withering from the nursing vine as it were! Those of us born in the 40's and 50's are fast approaching retirement or the end of our ability to physically maintain the rigors of our profession and then look out. The shortage has even caught the attention of our present President's administration w/ increased funding for scholarships and advertising for nurses. I pray that our wonderful profession will attract those of us who are drawn to the vocation of nursing not to "make big bucks". I began my career making 4 bucks an hour in 75 and felt very rich!

Yes pay scales have greatly improved.

Share the joy of nursing (and emphasize that it is hard but rewarding work) w/ our young people. I have always done that and hoped to encourage new nurses...we surely need them. I work with several new nurses and they are very bright, compassionate people so mentoring is my delight as I near my 30th yr in nursing.

Take care of yourselves and each other is my best motto.

MSwhits!

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That's interesting that they are giving BSNs in two years in your country. I'm wondering if your country's BSN equals the same degree here in the USA or if it is equivalent to our "Associate Degree" programs (a 2 year program)?? Do you have any way to compare? I would have to agree with your concern that giving a BSN (if comparable to a USA's BSN) in two years might make those nurses less qualified. As MSWhits said, we have an aging population, we call them Baby Boomers, who are going to need more health care and strain beyond limits an already overburdened need. The issues become complex why we are in this mess, so I won't try to explain them at this time. Are you considering coming to the US? Just out of curiousity, when they are advertising there for nurses to come to the USA, are they promising a certain wage? If so, would you mind telling us what wages or benefits they are offering to you?

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thanks for the replies that you have posed on this area. I have been a student nurse for two years already and during the time i entered a nursing school here in the Philippines there were no special programs offered by different schools here. You really have to follow the 4-year curriculum mandated by the school. But when the trend has given a strong hold among the people in the Philippines a lot schools are offering two year program. That two year BSN program are only offered to those students who wanted to study nursing but has already received a bachelor's degree prior to its application to a nursing school. but if an applicant does not have any Bachelor's degree diploma he/she is not allowed to follow the 2-year program BSN curriculum. The two year program is only exclusive for professionals. It is still equvalent to the nursing BSN program in the United States. The school where I am enrolled right now is the only accredited school by the Commission on Higher Education and Department of Education of the Philippines in my area due to its good records in the Philipine Licensure Exams for Nurses as well as the CGFNS passers of the school.

One comment I read that Nursing should never be placed into an income generating profession which I agree of because Nursing is a vocation and monetary reasons should always be a secondary one. I have always been asked by my clinical instructors that the reason why I took up nursing because of going abroad which is unfair because I took nursing because it has been my desires ever since. But I was able to to finish adegree in computer science due to some reasons that hindered me from studying nursing before. Even if we trace the history of nursing it has been a vocation as well as humanitarian reasons.

wih regards to some fee advertised here, some are telling us that in the US they are giving as high as 50 per hour which i don't know if it is true. also most nurses here are applying for UK because it does not need any CGFNS requirements unlike in the US. But what i fear in here is that it might affect and demoralize nursing if most students would only take nursing for monetary reasons putting humanitarian reason a secondary one.

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You said, "But what i fear in here is that it might affect and demoralize nursing if most students would only take nursing for monetary reasons putting humanitarian reason a secondary one."

If nurses there are coming to the USA for monetary reasons, they may be disappointed. While it is possible to make $50/hr USD, the average wage for RNs in this country is $21/hr USD. I have never lived or visited your country, so I have no point of reference to compare your standard of living with the USA. But, here in the USA, $21/hr is not a very good standard of living because of the high cost of housing and health insurance (our two major expenses).

I think our philosophies are a little different here. I think most would say that humanitarian reasons was the primary reason to be a nurse, but compensation is almost as important. We believe that if we can't take care of ourselves first, then we can't take care of others effectively.

I'm sure glad you posted! It is wonderful to exchange information and viewpoints with a nurse in another country! Thank you for sharing your ideas!

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thanks for the reply that you have given and opinions that would somehow enlighten our minds in here. Its not only the money that counts in here but the kind of life that one would have living in the United States or the UK. Compare Philippines and the Uk and the US Philippines is quite far. Economic instability threatens the labor system. that is why I am afraid that nursing profession might be demoralize in such a case if ever nurses would be graduating would only think of monetary factors rather that care to the patients. it would also affect the kind ocare they would probably give

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If anything, insufficient compensation of nurses is a greater demoralizing force. You cannot pay bills on intrinsic rewards.

Nursing is hard work...physically, intellectually, and emotionally. It deserves to be rewarded appropriately. It is not at all mercenary to expect, even demand, pay that reflects those demands.

There are plenty of nurses here in the US, but many have become so discouraged that they have left the bedside. Instead of spending money importing nurses from other countries, the profession would be better served by money being spent on improving working conditions for nurses here. It may sound cold, but "charity begins at home."

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Nurses go to work to make money! It is that simple! I am a caring and compassionate person! However Im not working for free! Called a plumber the other day, $60 dollars an hour and Im sure thats a steal! Hmm, not to demean plumbers but im a critical care r.n. I ask you who should get paid more? ALas a few more years, few more new hospitals with no r.n.'s to cover them. Then Ill say "show me the money" Have a great day all!

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Specializes in Peds Critical Care, NICU, Burn.
Originally posted by oramar

Well good for you, you main concern seems to be the profession and not making a quick buck. No there is no shortage of nurses in the US. However there is a shortage of nurses who are willing to work at the bedside. Imported nurses are used to fill positions that US citizens refuse to fill because conditions are so bad.

There's a lot of truth in that statement. I hear a lot of nursing students already saying, "I don't want to work nights or weekends", they complain about working holidays, etc. HELLO~I can appreciate that these aren't cream of the crop hours, but after 20 years in the profession, I think I've done my time. And there you have it--the "shortage of people who are willing to work at the bedside". Baby boomers are getting tired, and the younger nurses have no intention of doing what we've done all along. Administration is looking for people willing to work. So, if our own citizens aren't willing...I'm not trying to put anyone down here, just pointing out some of the circumstances that have led to the current search for nursing personnel, wherever they come from. Times are hard everywhere, and people need to feed their families. Good luck, StudentNurse--ph; I hope your career is rewarding and fulfilling, wherever you may work (and with a computer science background--wow!--you can combine that knowledge with your love of people and go a LONG ways!)

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.

We have a lot of Filipino nurses at our hospital. Quite a bit have been there 25 years or more. The manager of CCU and the manager of ICU are both Filipino. Take away the Filipino nurses and our critical care units would have to shut down.

There is a nursing shortage at our hospital and the Filipino nurses have been vital in helping to ease that. I'm not sure if that's fair to your country, unless there is an abundance of nurses there. But in Florida there is always approximately 5,000 or more unfulfilled nursing positions on any given day.

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I just want to correct your thoughts concerning the BSN program being offered in the Philippines. I am one of those who earned BSN degree ( a two-year course). You are right kabayan , that there are schools in our country offering a 2-year BSN program BUT ONLY TO THOSE WITH MEDICAL DOCTORATE DEGREE. And 3-year program to those with doctor of dental medicine degree. The United States is in the midst of a nursing shortage that is intensify as baby boomers age and the need for health care grows. Good luck!

quote=STudentNurse-ph]I am a student nurse from the Philippines and I have been recieving news letters via e-mail regularly. I am quite interested in the topic that was posted by the adminstrator. three days ago I have sent similar article or should I say a letter to the editor about the nursing crisis in the western countries particularly the United States.

We have been recieving a lot of news that there are shortage of nurses in the United States since year 2000 and we have been hearing a lot of filipino nurses that are deployed in the UK since 1998 (if I am not mistaken). And we always hear stories about the shortage of nurse by filipinos who have returned to the Philippines. And such news have triggered the minds of the people in here because there has been a massive recruitments of filipinor nurses to be deployed in the United States. And in fact, a lot of professionals here in the Philippines who had been earning a lot already, gave up their job just to grab this opportunity.

With the question raised "if it is a crisis or an opportunity" for us here in the Philippines it is a great opportunity that crisis or shortage of nurses in the United States has come, that if such issue is really true, (w/c I myself believe to be true since most of my Clinical Instructors were already in New York and other parts of the US, working as Nurses.)

But for me there were also bad effect in such crisis because most school of nursing here in the Philippines are taking advantage of the trend. Schools are offering 2-year program for a BSN degree for those professionals that asks high fees for them. The problem is, it reaches to the extent that incompetent nursing clinical instructors are hired just to fill up the demand. Incompetent in the sense that some are fresh graduates and some do not even have any masteral units. Nursing objectives for me seems to be going away if this issue is to be based. The objective of nursing which is to serve the humanit is overruled by the monetary reasons. in fact some competent clinical instructors are telling that there are really students especially in the special program students are not qualified to be a nurse by just looking into the attitude alone. It has been observed that their only reason of taking nursing is just to go abroad and I guess that should be given or placed into a big consideration because it might lead to producing of poor nursing performance in the future.

Last quesitons is! since all of you are mostly from the United States, IS there really a Nursing Shortage?

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