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| No. 50 | 
May 30, 2004, 01:06 PM
Updated
May 30, 2004 at 01:13 PM by Sheri257
Originally Posted by marymary The amount of money that this country's businesses spend recruiting and maintaining foreign nurses is incredible. They send for them, place them in housing, and give them contracts for employment. Why not just educate your own citizens free, include room and board at the colleges, and give an additional bonus to work at the local hospitals. What is the difference? :hatparty:
Sounds like a good idea. But I could see how they might lose a lot of money that way. The failure rate, especially in pre-reqs and, also, nursing school is pretty high. I'm guessing that they'd probably only want to spend money on people who are already nurses (or close to becoming RNs) since there might be a lower risk factor there.   | | Advertisement Sponsored Links | | | | No. 51 |
May 30, 2004, 01:34 PM
Originally Posted by LPN/RDHNanaWantsToGo If the hospitals used already well trained RN's AND LPN's and paid more, with better staffing instead of paying to recruit foreign nurses, (and also having to pay us agency/registry wages....) they would have no shortage.
Although we do recruit from overseas, Australia doesn't offer overseas nurses magnificent packages, and recruits have to already have some post-grad experience. In Victorian public hospitals we have at least adequate staffing, and adequate (though not superlative) renumeration. Since instituting the ratios, 3000 nurses have returned, so our acute shortage has eased.
Despite this, senior nurse advisers are still concerned - nurses are an aging population, and this is going to be a chronic problem for some time.
I think the idea that significant, systemic issues like these are in any way contributed to or caused by overseas nurse recruitment is mistaken. Low wages in nursing are not because of market-driven competition - acute and dire nursing shortages have never seen a corresponding surge in salaries. By 'low wages' I mean that income is not commensurate with the risk, skill, education, anti-social hours and earning potential that is inherent in nursing. Junior doctors, for example, have at least similar conditions, but an earning potential which is partially compensatory. By 'surge in salaries' I mean that there has never been a time where the response to a nursing shortage was to double salaries, for example.
Nursing salaries comprise the single biggest category of a hospital budget. Rather than recognising that this is because there are more of us than of any other group of employee, and rather than acknowledge the innumerate research findings that improved patient outcomes are strongly associated with having more, experienced, and skilled nurses, administrators see the answer in short-term fiscal responses. Instead of addressing the issues that make nursing unattractive, they 'replace' shortfalls with under-trained para-nursing staff.
Until the value of nursing is recognised in a way more concrete than lip service, nothing will change. This is a global problem, and needs a universal solution.
| | No. 52 |
May 31, 2004, 10:31 AM
:hatparty: Are there country's without a nurising shortage?
| | No. 53 |
May 31, 2004, 09:30 PM
I am a UK nurse who has just emigrated to Australia. I worked in the UK with some of the most fantastic filipino nurses who where specifically sought by the hospital to solve the nursing shortage there. BUT I do feel that incentives to entice nurses back into the profession would have been a better long term solution.
The ward I worked on gave me school hours to keep me when my child started school...fantastic...but I was only one of a couple of nurses in the hospital who was lucky enough to get that.
Now I'm in oz. And having difficulty getting work to fit in with family life! I have years of experience and am a hard worker....looks like Australia has encouraged me over for my skills but will lose out as I'll end up working in the local supermarket!
I reckon family friendly hours and flexibility for all is more inportant than wages.
| | No. 54 |
Jun 01, 2004, 01:16 AM
 Don't think so
[quote=brian]This month's survey Question: Should nurses from other countries be recruited to aid in the nursing shortage?
Where I work, there are a lot of conflicts between a majority of the workers because most of the nursing staff are Phillipinos and it creates tension in the workplace b/c there is favoritism when there is a Phillipino supervisor at night, they all get to slack off and stand around b.s.'n in their own language, and when someone brought these problems up to the supervisor, they acted as if they were offended, but then what did they continue doing???? No not all of them are acting this way, but 98% are, and God forbid anyone says anything about it. It wouldn't bother me so much if they would just stop ignoring the rules of our facility and be more professional and work more.  | | No. 55 |
Jun 01, 2004, 03:22 AM
Originally Posted by nursesarah canadian nursing students (at least, at the university i go to, McMaster) are better trained than students in the states.
This to me sounds more like flattery to get you down here, rather than truth. Remember talking to a nurse recuiter is like talking to a used car salesmen.
They don't want you because your better trained. They want a warm body with an RN license that can pass NCLEX, but they do usually prefer BSN trained.
I'm not saying Canadians nurses don't have a better more quality education, that may be true. But that's another thread.  | | No. 56 |
Jun 02, 2004, 01:30 AM
Originally Posted by talaxandra The other aspect is that the nursing shortage doesn't just affect the West - offering incentives to nurses from second- and third-world countries does a grave disservice to the countries that invested money in training them, leaving them short. Using overseas recruitment to patch up the nursing shortage is a short-term solution to a long-standing, long-term problem. It's typical of government policy in general - rather than addressing long-range plans that will cost money and not necessarily pay off while they're in office, politicians and CEOs look at the next election, annual bonus or shareholders meeting.
Here in the Philippines, the government is not spending any single cent for our nursing education!
| | No. 57 |
Jun 02, 2004, 01:48 AM
Updated
Jun 02, 2004 at 01:52 AM by Rep
Originally Posted by lizz I could be wrong, but I believe there are new English proficiency requirements to potentially remedy that problem?
(P.S. Where's suzanne4? She would know.  )
Yes, we foreign nurses have to take different English exams. These Engish exams, Toefl, TSE and IELTS test our ability to think, speak and write American English. We need to pass these exams so that CGFNS/ICHP can give us the Visa screen Certificate. The Visa Screen is a federal requirement before they they can give us an immigrant visa. The Visa screen is composed of CGFNS/NCLEX, toefl, tse or ielts.
By the way, foreign nurses are not taking away your jobs . It is the kind of corporate health system you have that gives us the jobs!
| | No. 58 |
Jun 02, 2004, 07:48 AM
I have a current US license to work as a RN, and I will never give that up.
Yet, I chose to live and work in Thailand. Sure in the field of medicine and nursing, but right now not at the bedside. So all of my hours are available.
And to the nurse in another post that was complaining about foreign nurses coming and working 80 hours per week and not leaving any hours for other nurses. Get real!!! If there were other nurses to work those hours, do you think that the hospital would be paying the overtime???? Hospitals are watching out for their bottom line. Also show me how many Americans would even consider working those hours on a regular basis, or flip-flop shifts back and forth like they do over here. All of you would resign..................And how many of you turn down night shifts when they get offered at the last moment? But the foreign nurse will pick them up right away, and you want to penalize him or her? You really need to open your eyes that there is a much bigger world out there than just the US and what you personally need or want. Do you even have a passport and have you ever travelled overseas?
I doubt it..............................
| | No. 59 |
Jun 02, 2004, 07:53 AM
Originally Posted by Rep Yes, we foreign nurses have to take different English exams. These Engish exams, Toefl, TSE and IELTS test our ability to think, speak and write American English. We need to pass these exams so that CGFNS/ICHP can give us the Visa screen Certificate. The Visa Screen is a federal requirement before they they can give us an immigrant visa. The Visa screen is composed of CGFNS/NCLEX, toefl, tse or ielts.
By the way, foreign nurses are not taking away your jobs . It is the kind of corporate health system you have that gives us the jobs!
Nurses that are currently in the US on H1-B visas are not having them renewed. The only thing available to them is the green card, and even if the temporary work permit was to become available, it now has the same requirements as the green card. Meaning that the foreign nurse must have the same speaking skills as a native-born speaker. And guess what, many of them have developed better speaking skills than some Americans. This is required for them to work in the US, unless they happen to marry an American and get around the rule. But then it is the responsibility of the hospital that hired them. I would put the skills of my students up against many Americans and I am sure that they would come out ahead.
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