Discussion- Urge Congress to Support HR 5924: Legislation to Address Nursing Shortage

TravelingBSNRN, BSN, RN · Jun 24, 2008

I guess only those in favor of the influx of forein RNs to work in the US will support this move and your advocacy. I will definitely support this. :yeah:

May I know the position of the staff and moderators of this forum regarding this matter?

suzanne4, RN · Jun 24, 2008

This is the same that has been discussed only more provisions have been added to it. And not one of us are against foreign trained nurses coming to the US in the first place. I never have been against it, but what I am against is those that try to do things illegally or take cuts in front of everyone else that has been waiting.

The US has never had an open door policy for nurses or any other field, there has always been limits. And even when there was the Schedule A a few years ago, that only had 50,000 visas with it and included spouses and children. This new bill does count the spouses and children, so that is a good thing, but there still is a limit and this is only 20,000 per year for three years. It is not an unlimited supply of visas.

And then notice that there are two other major provisions to this bill as well, and those are not towards the foreign nurse issue at all.

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What I do not like is that agencies come along and make promises that they cannot keep just to get someone to sign with them knowing full well that more than likely the nurse will back out of the contract and then owe the agency money. Unfortunately, this is how some of them are making their money now. They only get paid when the nurse starts to work, and if they are not starting, then they have to look for money from another way.

If I did not wish for foreign nurses to come to the US, I never would have worked with foreign nurses to get them over here or help them pass both the English exams as well as NCLEX. I spend quite a bit of my time helping others to begin with. But when some come here and boast of doing something illegal or in violaton of US Immigration Law, it gets me upset as it should you as well.

I actually am the only American moderator on this forum, my other co-mods are also out of the US and have been waiting for visas as well, doing things the legal way to begin with right from the start.

These 20,000 visas will only be a drop in the bucket for those that are already waiting and have petitions that have gone thru the entire process. For those that are just starting, there is no way that they are going to be able to get a visa from this supply. That is the point that we have been trying to make.

And the US is not responsible to take any nurse if their country does not have work for them, that is the responsibility of their own country. And the US has every right to expect experience in an RN when they come to the US, that is what we are expecting to see next as a requirement; just like almost every other country in the world.

Thanks for asking.

suzanne4, RN · Jun 24, 2008

But please, lets get back to the original post and not my opinions or anyone else's on it.

Thank you.

Ginger's Mom, MSN, RN · Jun 25, 2008

https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml

I just wrote my congressman, I know that congressmen listen to the people the represent. Please let your congressmen know how you feel.

It was very painless to do.

maomao · Jul 20, 2008

Please click the link and let senetor hear your voice on HR. 5924 which

light the candle in the dark for foreign nurses! I already did it in my

state. Come on, brothers and sisters, the more the better, ACT now!

http://capwiz.com/sjhs/issues/alert/?alertid=11498866

2nd link (working) : http://www.congress.org/sjhs/issues/bills/?bill=11498861

--:heartbeat

This is our last hope!

suzanne4, RN · Jul 20, 2008

If you are do not have voting capabilities for the US, then your responding to this will not help.

This is only for those that hold US citizenship to be doing, not those in other countries wishing to come to the US to work. Unfortunately, you have no say in what is done in the US, the same way that we have no say in what is done in your country.

mitcornsus · Jul 20, 2008

[(1) set aside 20,000 employment-based visas in each of the next three years for foreign-educated registered nurses and physical therapists;]

How about US-educated registered nurses but who are international students and need visa too? Why are they excluded from the bill? This does not make sense at all. I think they should be given priority.

Silverdragon102, BSN · Jul 20, 2008

[(1) set aside 20,000 employment-based visas in each of the next three years for foreign-educated registered nurses and physical therapists;]

How about US-educated registered nurses but who are international students and need visa too? Why are they excluded from the bill? This does not make sense at all. I think they should be given priority.

Sorry but I do not think they should be given priority, what they should be is included in the list like everyone else. F1 in most cases is classed as non immigrant and usually expected to return home once you have completed your studies. just my :twocents:

mitcornsus · Jul 20, 2008

Sorry to point it out, but the exact country you are in, Canada, gives priority (extra points), to the foreign students for immigration purposes. If one study in Canada for two years, he/she get five more points, etc. Quebec has similar immigration policies.

Sorry to say, but the immigration system in US do give international students a lot of advantages (kind of priority) though. Educated in US, have a-year OPT which helps them gain US experience. An obvious example is when immigration visa becomes available, like last JULY visa bulletin chaos, they can file AOS immediately, which gives them advantage of renewable EAD.

Silverdragon102, BSN · Jul 20, 2008

Sorry to point it out, but the exact country you are in, Canada, gives priority (extra points), to the foreign students for immigration purposes. If one study in Canada for two years, he/she get five more points, etc. Quebec has similar immigration policies.
Sorry to say, but the immigration system in US do give international students a lot of advantages (kind of priority) though. Educated in US, have a-year OPT which helps them gain US experience. An obvious example is when immigration visa becomes available, like last JULY visa bulletin chaos, they can file AOS immediately, which gives them advantage of renewable EAD.

The UK does not give priority to you if you are a foreign trained nurse. Each country has their own requirements and Canada has a big drive to bring in professional workers and will assist them but if you are just looking for permanent residency without any qualifications then you can be looking at several years. The US does not have a visa unless you can meet a certain criteria so if you say for instance do your LPN in the US it will not meet immigration requirements to stay in the US.

Also there is no guarantee doing the AOS that you will be accepted and after the fiasco last July 07 I doubt AOS will re appear for many years

Ginger's Mom, MSN, RN · Jul 20, 2008

http://include.nurse.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080714/NATIONAL02/307140032/-1/front

Nursing magazines and publtications are looking for solutions such as retention of current staff and more money for faculty members. I only saw one lone paragraph about this bill. I don't think it has any traction and won't pass.