Filipino nurses emigrating to US

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Is there any reason that there seems to be lots of RNs trained in the Philippines that come to the US to practice?

I just wonder because I never hear of nurses from other countries coming to work in the US as much as I hear of Filipino RNs. Does it have to do with the similarity of their training compared to RNs in the US?

Specializes in Inpatient Oncology/Public Health.

My hospital has a special program recruiting Filipino nurses. They have to stay in employment with our facility for 5 years or they have to repay some large amount of money.

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Some of these comments don't seem fair. I'm not Filipino, but I work with a lot of Filipino nurses who are competent and in line with the pay scale. They weren't just plucked up off their homeland and dropped in a hospital where they happily work 18 hours days for a loaf of bread.

I agree.

Its not fair,and the reason you do not see to many Filipino nurses is that there is a new country around: India

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We need to employ our own nurses before we start employing foreign nurses. Other countries have strict laws regarding employing nurses from other countries.

It's time to take the welcome mat away until our own nurses find jobs. Sorry if that sounds insensitive.

No,i do not think you are being insensitive.

Regarding their inferior education,I was told that the reason they are preferred over American nurses is because all of them have Bsn degrees,while most American Rn's do not.

When i did work with them as an Lpn,I knew they felt I was an inferior nurse because of education level.

I did get more respect among them when i became an RN.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Float Pool Nursing.
I agree.

Its not fair,and the reason you do not see to many Filipino nurses is that there is a new country around: India

We see plenty of Filipino nurses here in the USA. They tend to gear themselves towards critical care units in particular, in order to impress their families who praise high skill level jobs. To Filipino nurses, working in critical care confers status. It is not uncommon to see the Filipino nurses in the ICUs taking breaks and lunches together and researching nursing journals.

No one here is saying that Filipino nurses make for inherently inferior nurses. However, their education is different from ours and as others have testified, they get placed in facilities in spite of a lack of training or proper orientation. As I mentioned before, a huge number of Filipino nurses are unable to pass the nclex-rn when they come to try and work here.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Academics.
The US currently has retrogression meaning that nurses or other professions that are getting their greencards now generally have waited over 8 years to get it. It does vary dependent on where the applicant was born but the government allocates x amount of greencards each year for skilled workers so they must still think there is a reason to try and bring skilled workers to the US

The US government doesn't need a reason to do anything it does. All it needs are lobbyists for hospitals (or any industry) that want cheap labor. It's always, always about money.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

This situation is not limited to nursing. I know for a fact (information from insiders) that IT workers - software developers most commonly from India, Pakistan and the Middle East, are subjected to very unfair labor conditions. Large, well-known corporations use them as 'salaried' contractors (ineligible for OT) and require them to work 50-60 hours a week. Their employment sponsorship is at risk if they complain.

It's an abhorrent practice, and one that not only subjects these individuals to a modern version of indentured servitude, but also deprives qualified American workers from those jobs. Occasionally, one of the 'recruiters' is busted but the big corporate employers escape unscathed.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Academics.
This situation is not limited to nursing. I know for a fact (information from insiders) that IT workers - software developers most commonly from India, Pakistan and the Middle East, are subjected to very unfair labor conditions. Large, well-known corporations use them as 'salaried' contractors (ineligible for OT) and require them to work 50-60 hours a week. Their employment sponsorship is at risk if they complain.

It's an abhorrent practice, and one that not only subjects these individuals to a modern version of indentured servitude, but also deprives qualified American workers from those jobs. Occasionally, one of the 'recruiters' is busted but the big corporate employers escape unscathed.

Most big corporations' employees and contractors are salaried and work 50 to 60 hours a week. Ask any corporate worker in a professional position. I did, my husband does...that's not new and not something I'm gonna boohoo about considering their pay is often much more than an American worker when you figure in COL. The company my husband works for routinely uses Indian IT contractors that are in India. Some of them come over here on a six month rolling basis because that's the time limit of a work visa. There are huge problems with that from a work standpoint: He can't get a hold of the ones in India after 1 PM because of the time difference, and rotating on-site workers on projects that often last more than six months is knowledge lost, slowing down projects as a result.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Emergency, CEN.
The only reason is money. I am pretty sure Filipino nurses work for less than what the average American citizen nurse makes. It drives down our wages and increases dangerous practices and bad ratios, as the Filipino nurses are willing to work under almost any conditions to get to stay here. I find the practice appalling.

I'm sorry, but you are completely wrong. Most hospitals use a pay ladder dependent on experience and education. Regardless of where you come from, you will be paid the same as another nurse of the same experience.

Also, the amount of red tape and cost of visas or relocation is high enough that most places would rather not deal with it. Most immigrants come over by paying their own way and get their own visas before looking for work. How many people here could/would do the same to follow their dream to another country?

Also, India is hardly a new country as smartnurse1982 seems to think. It's approximately 9,014 years old, compared to our 238 years.

I am the daughter of an AMERICAN CITIZEN asian immigrant. I know just how hard she, her family and her friends have worked to get here and naturalized. I know the hate they face daily. I am done with this thread. Anyone can see it has already gone to "foreigners go home" and I refuse to follow where it goes next.

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I'm sorry, but you are completely wrong. Most hospitals use a pay ladder dependent on experience and education. Regardless of where you come from, you will be paid the same as another nurse of the same experience.

Also, the amount of red tape and cost of visas or relocation is high enough that most places would rather not deal with it. Most immigrants come over by paying their own way and get their own visas before looking for work. How many people here could/would do the same to follow their dream to another country?

Also, India is hardly a new country as smartnurse1982 seems to think. It's approximately 75,000 years old, compared to our 238 years.

I am the daughter of an AMERICAN CITIZEN asian immigrant. I know just how hard she, her family and her friends have worked to get here and naturalized. I know the hate they face daily. I am done with this thread. Anyone can see it has already gone to "foreigners go home" and I refuse to follow where it goes next.

You took it the wrong way. I said India is the newest country nursing recruiters are getting Rn's from.

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Can anyone post requirements for a Bsn in the Philippines?

I often wondered how long their programs are and if they are identical to ours.

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Specializes in CDI Supervisor; Formerly NICU.

I am the daughter of an AMERICAN CITIZEN asian immigrant. I know just how hard she, her family and her friends have worked to get here and naturalized. I know the hate they face daily. I am done with this thread. Anyone can see it has already gone to "foreigners go home" and I refuse to follow where it goes next.

Well...bye.

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No,i do not think you are being insensitive.

Regarding their inferior education,I was told that the reason they are preferred over American nurses is because all of them have Bsn degrees,while most American Rn's do not.

When i did work with them as an Lpn,I knew they felt I was an inferior nurse because of education level.

I did get more respect among them when i became an RN.

But a BSN degree may or may not be quite different than America's colleges and universities.

That is ALL we need in our units---nurses who find ANY co-worker, regardless of education, inferior. Here's your work visa, thanks so much for your presence.

Welcome to America, where we can't take care of our own but we sure can take care of everyone else's.

Yet, still there are thousands of RN's, BSN's, LPN's....who have multiple years of student loans to pay, but can't get a job on a bet.

Awesome.

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