Why do so many nurses from the Philippines come to Canada/USA?

World Philippines

Published

I hope nobody takes offense to this question because I certainly don't mean it in any negative way.

I am just wondering why so many nurses from the Philippines are coming to Canada and the USA? I always thought the Philippines was supposed to be a beautiful place? Why does it seem everyone wants to leave it? It seems to be the most common country to see foreign nurses from here in Canada (west coast). Why don't they want to stay in their home country? I love visiting other countries but I don't think I would want to go through the hassle of permanantly relocating to another country. I know I am probably being really naive here but I have always been curious about this. Here in Vancouver BC I think I work with more Phillipino nurses than fellow Canadians. Frankly its kinda sad considering how many Canadians are out of work...

Specializes in Acute Spine, Neuro, Thoracic's, LTC.
why are so many people here on allnurses always asking this? what's next? why are there so many black nurses? why are there so many hispanics nurses? back in the days when we had the "nursing shortage", the u.s. government were begging filipino nurses to come to america. they automatically got "green cards" instantly including their families. that's how my mom and several of my aunts got here. and now that there is no more nursing shortage, you want to kick them to the curb?

why is it sad that you work more with filipino nurses than your fellow canadians? is it the filipino nurses fault that many canadians are out of work? these filipino nurses enter your country legally and your board of nursing issued these nurses licenses, so what is the problem?

:down:

as i said earlier, there is no problem. i am just curious as to what the draw is. wouldn't you start to wonder if you were in your home country of the philippines (having never lived in another country like me) and there were more canadian nurses working with you than nurses from your own country? and please don't put words in my mouth. if you actually read my earlier post you would see that i said i really enjoy working with all of the phillipino nurses. they are some of the most caring and hard working nurses around. who said anything about kicking them to the curb?

is it the filiono nurses fault that canadian nurses are out of work you ask? well no its not their fault directly. they were recruited when we needed them and its definitley not their fault for wanting to go to a place where they can make more money. i would also do this in a heartbeat. however as a canadian i can't help but think about how fellow canadians wouldn't be jobless if we hand't recruited so hard internationally during a brief time of nursing shortage... i don't know, i claim to be an expert on any of this. i just want an honest open discussion.

Specializes in Acute Spine, Neuro, Thoracic's, LTC.
why are so many people here on allnurses always asking this? what's next? why are there so many black nurses? why are there so many hispanics nurses? back in the days when we had the "nursing shortage", the u.s. government were begging filipino nurses to come to america. they automatically got "green cards" instantly including their families. that's how my mom and several of my aunts got here. and now that there is no more nursing shortage, you want to kick them to the curb?

why is it sad that you work more with filipino nurses than your fellow canadians? is it the filipino nurses fault that many canadians are out of work? how do you know they are not canadian citizens already?

these filipino nurses enter your country legally and your board of nursing issued these nurses licenses, so what is the problem?

and also i must point this out:

no i am not going to ask next why are there so many black nurses or hispanic nurses. cause i have never worked with either one of those groups of people. yet i work with easily 50% filipino nurses.

Beauty doesnt pay bills, money does. Canada and usa pay better

Nurses in the Philippines are paid so low. Now a days they start by being a volunteer for 6 months and then when you are hired you are paid around 5000-10000 pesos which is around $100-200. If you have years of experience like seniors who are experienced with icu/or/etc any specialty around 10000-20000 which is $200-400. By reading this you will get the reason why. Also in the Philippines we dont have our own CNA so nurses there do everything. I'm a Filipino but I cant blame you for asking the question if i was a canadian I would have ask the same thing.

Edit: the salary I was talking about is monthly :)

I'm Filipino

and i think the OP didnt mean it in a negative way, it is true there are a lot of us in nursing! We cannot deny that, there are a lot of Filipinos. If there were a lot of Chinese people in nursing I would be like " why are there a lot of Chinese people in nursing? " Because it seems like nursing is a cultural thing for us. Some come from the Philippines because the pay and lifestyle here is a lot better compared to there. There are a lot of Filipinos in the profession probably because most of us have family members, relatives, or friends who are nurses, which influences our career choice aswell.

I know my brother who was influenced by his girlfriend who was influenced by her family of nurses, so it's a cycle. Thinking of nursing just once, with all the opportunities it comes with, will stay in our mind because it is a career choice that is hard to pass up (good pay while helping humanity a little more every day).

Specializes in Wound Care, LTC, Sub-Acute, Vents.
i'm filipino

and i think the op didnt mean it in a negative way, it is true there are a lot of us in nursing! we cannot deny that, there are a lot of filipinos. if there were a lot of chinese people in nursing i would be like " why are there a lot of chinese people in nursing? " because it seems like nursing is a cultural thing for us. some come from the philippines because the pay and lifestyle here is a lot better compared to there. there are a lot of filipinos in the profession probably because most of us have family members, relatives, or friends who are nurses, which influences our career choice aswell.

i know my brother who was influenced by his girlfriend who was influenced by her family of nurses, so it's a cycle. thinking of nursing just once, with all the opportunities it comes with, will stay in our mind because it is a career choice that is hard to pass up (good pay while helping humanity a little more every day).

did you not read these statements from the op?

is it the filiono nurses fault that canadian nurses are out of work you ask? well no its not their fault directly. they were recruited when we needed them and its definitley not their fault for wanting to go to a place where they can make more money. i would also do this in a heartbeat. however as a canadian i can't help but think about how fellow canadians wouldn't be jobless if we hand't recruited so hard internationally during a brief time of nursing shortage...

i read the above as: the filipinos are indirectly responsible for jobless canadians.

here in vancouver bc i think i work with more phillipino nurses than fellow canadians. frankly its kinda sad considering how many canadians are out of work...

again, the blaming of the filipinos again and sad because many canadians are out of work due to them.

I asked some of my Filipino coworkers this at the beginning of my nursing career when we were talking one night. I had never met Filipinos (that I recalled) until I started that job. They told me plain and simple that there was no work for them in the Philippines and they were supporting their families. They were serious about the conversation and voiced a longing to be at home.

Specializes in Wound Care, LTC, Sub-Acute, Vents.

it's not like these filipinos are stealing jobs from canadians or americans. they came legally to the country. the jobs are open to everybody including the citizens. everyone is free to apply.

what is up with singling out an ethnic group of people?

oh i just read the 1st page and figured I'd just chime in, i didn't even see the dispute on the 2nd page, everything seemed so civil at first lol

ya there are a lot of us, but it doesn't mean we are illegal. Hell like all the Filipinos i know (here in Cali) are born in the US and we just picked nursing as our profession. Older generation Filipinos may have accents, but that doesn't mean they are illegal

The plain and simple answer is that the US aggressively recruited nurses from the Philippines and it became a way to immigrate to the US. US immigration was and still is a big deal to Filipinos, so if the demand was for nurses, you became a nurse. Filipinos also work in other countries such as Singapore, Japan, UK and middle eastern countries mainly because the pay is better than in the country.

I happen to be Filipino but I'm a US citizen. Just happened to choose this profession.

Specializes in Step-Down.

Shocker: I think that Canadians or US citizens should be given first accommodation as far as job opportunities are concerned. There are many of our citizens without employment who are nurses. I think our governments have limited work visas for foreigners and hope they continue to do so and eventually stop.

Specializes in Hospice.
Shocker: I think that Canadians or US citizens should be given first accommodation as far as job opportunities are concerned. There are many of our citizens without employment who are nurses. I think our governments have limited work visas for foreigners and hope they continue to do so and eventually stop.

That's fine but just because someone is Filipino in background does not mean they are not American or Canadian as well and they should have an equal opportunity to compete for those jobs. People also immigrate to the united states every year in a lot of countries very educated people come over but their degrees are useless here but in this case their training is equivalent (and some might argue superior) to the US nurse training program therefore they are able to viably compete for jobs.

+ Add a Comment