Filipino Nurses

[Oscar]

I'm new to this bulletin board and I hope I can post some interesting thoughts for our nursing discussions. Something I've been thinking about recently is Filipino nurses. I've recently been the only non-Filipino on staff on the floor, NA's and ward clerks included. Growing up I did not know any Filipino's and sometimes I feel I missed alot in my cultural education. I never even saw much about them in the media. My preceptors, nurse managers and past collegues have always been predominantly this culture. I must say it has advantages and difficulties associated with it. Any input?

[Brownms46]

Originally posted by Navy Nurse:

You might as well get used to Filipino Nurses being around. They are the largest group of foreign nurses in the states and they are producing more and more nurses each year. As soon as some states and the government relaxs regulations there will be a flood of them come into the U.S.

It is a very popular field in college because it offers opportunity to get to the U.S.

Thank God they are willing to come here! I have worked with many, and I found them to be excellent, caring, and hard working nurses! With a severe nursing shortage, we should be willing to accept any nurse, that gives compassionate, skilled, concerned care. It shouldn't matter where they come from! No one is NATIVE to this country, and the only thing that separates these immigrants from any other citizen is the time they arrived. We ALL arrived here, at one point or another, from some place else, whether your forefathers came over on the Mayflower, the slave ships, after the potatoe famine, or to escape the wars. We should accept them, when they become citizens, as our foreparents sought to be accepted when they arrived. What a bore this world would be if there were no diversity in people. I, myself applauded them for wanting to come, having the ability to learn a foreign language, culture, and be able to work in a sometimes hostile environement. I say more power to all who seek to better their position in life!

Brownie

[Brownms46]

Originally posted by Navy Nurse:

You might as well get used to Filipino Nurses being around. They are the largest group of foreign nurses in the states and they are producing more and more nurses each year. As soon as some states and the government relaxs regulations there will be a flood of them come into the U.S.

It is a very popular field in college because it offers opportunity to get to the U.S.

Thank God they are willing to come here! I have worked with many, and I found them to be excellent, caring, and hard working nurses! With a severe nursing shortage, we should be willing to accept any nurse, that gives compassionate, skilled, concerned care. It shouldn't matter where they come from! No one is NATIVE to this country, and the only thing that separates these immigrants from any other citizen is the time they arrived. We ALL arrived here, at one point or another, from some place else, whether your forefathers came over on the Mayflower, the slave ships, after the potatoe famine, or to escape the wars. We should accept them, when they become citizens, as our foreparents sought to be accepted when they arrived. What a bore this world would be if there were no diversity in people. I, myself applauded them for wanting to come, having the ability to learn a foreign language, culture, and be able to work in a sometimes hostile environement. I say more power to all who seek to better their position in life!

Brownie

[Tiara]

The problem is not with nurses from other parts of the world. The problem is that the hospitals will import nurses who want to come to the states rather than make the necessary changes so the environment is safe for all nurses.

[Tiara]

The problem is not with nurses from other parts of the world. The problem is that the hospitals will import nurses who want to come to the states rather than make the necessary changes so the environment is safe for all nurses.

[RachelUK]

Here in England we are importing nurses from all over the world to help with our staffing crisis, including Filipino and Chinese nurses and also Scandinavian nurses. Some are even being recruited from New Zealand. The problem that arises in my area is not so much a problem with the competency or cultural differences of these nurses, but with the attitudes of our patients towards them, they are sometimes viewed as second rate. This is through no fault of the nurses, but through the bigotry of our local people. It is now more or less accepted by our patients that they may have to be seen by an "indian" doctor, but they do not expect a "foreign" nurse. The majority of my clients are elderly and from working class backgrounds, they are brought up in a culture of racism and sexism and in turn pass this onto the next generation. It is regretable to say that in my part of England, any "foreign" nurse will be treated with suspicion and negative attitudes.

[RachelUK]

Here in England we are importing nurses from all over the world to help with our staffing crisis, including Filipino and Chinese nurses and also Scandinavian nurses. Some are even being recruited from New Zealand. The problem that arises in my area is not so much a problem with the competency or cultural differences of these nurses, but with the attitudes of our patients towards them, they are sometimes viewed as second rate. This is through no fault of the nurses, but through the bigotry of our local people. It is now more or less accepted by our patients that they may have to be seen by an "indian" doctor, but they do not expect a "foreign" nurse. The majority of my clients are elderly and from working class backgrounds, they are brought up in a culture of racism and sexism and in turn pass this onto the next generation. It is regretable to say that in my part of England, any "foreign" nurse will be treated with suspicion and negative attitudes.

[Teshiee]

I agree with the cultural diversity course. Many people assume something about an ethnic group and all hell breaks loose. I say at least be on the up and up. I know respect is diverse in its own way. I am a Negro and I personally don't have a problem with anyone of any culture accept ignorant, trifling, individuals and those transcend all ethnic groups. I will give anyone a chance I look at their character not their ethncity. Working in California I have to say I love the diversity. Pot lucks are really special we bring our heritage and stories to the table. I love it.

[live4today, RN]

Question to anyone from an Oriental background.... :)

Is it still acceptable to refer to people from the Oriental cultures as being "Oriental", or do you all find that term insulting today?

If so, what do you prefer to be called? Do you prefer to be called Asian instead of Oriental? Please school us Americans by updating us on how we should refer to you, and when is it "acceptable" to refer to Asians as Orientals? Thank you so much! I really want to learn how to properly address my other brothers and sisters in this world! :)

______________________________________

When I worked in Hawaii as a traveling nurse back in 1988, many of the nurses I worked with were either Filipino, Chinese, Hawaiian, Japanese, Korean, a mixture of these mentioned, and all the travel nurses I worked with were either Black or Caucasian from "The Mainland". Other healthcare workers (nonnursing, etc.) were also Samoan. I enjoyed working with a cultural diversity of people, and learned much from them. The Filipino nurses that I worked with seemed to be more cheerful, more dedicated, more compassionate. more hands on, more tenderhearted towards others and their patients, more willing to help another nurse or a patient that was not theirs, etc. Hats off to them all! I welcome the opportunity to work with Filipino nurses any day! They treated me very well indeed! :kiss

"Dont miss out on a blessing because it isn't packaged the way that you expect." -- Unknown

[Stargazer]

I always remember this comment by Pam of the MTV's The Real World San Fancisco cast (oh, shut up. I haven't watched MTV in years now):

"People are referred to as Asians. Inanimate objects, like rugs and lamps, are referred to as Oriental."

I can't vouch for the veracity, but it sure sounded right to me.

[RNKitty]

Exactly right, Tiara. Why is there a "shortage" of bedside nurses in the US? According to other posts on this board, there are 500,000 nurses licensed but not working right now in the US. They all left for various reasons, but you can bet your booties some of those reasons had to do with high patient to nurse ratio's, overtime, poor compensation, etc.

Let's work to improve our working conditions so it is safe to practice for all nurses. Let us not exploit nurses who come from other countries. We can't give them worse working conditions than we are willing to work. We can't pay them less than we expect ourselves. Many are happy for the lower wage because it still is higher than they can make in their own country.

I say, let's welcome the wonderful nurses we work with, no matter where they come from, and work to make sure we all have good compensation and working conditions.

[RNPD]

I have worked with many Filipino nurses and found them to be excellent. A baccalaureate degree is required in the Phillipines to be a nurse, and so they are well educated and well trained, and work hard. They have difficulties like anyone else adjusting to American culture, but for the most part, they speak English well as it is taught in school. My only negative comments are that they can be too reticent and accepting of poor treatment; I would prefer them to become more assertive, but this often happens as they assimilate our culture. The only thing i dislike is when they speak Tagalog in front of me. I find it rude, as I would with any people speaking a different language that they knew I didn't understand. Of course I am referring to people who speak English well, but choose to speak another language in front of others. They may not mean it to be exclusionary, but I find it so. But as far as nursing-we need all the nurses we can get and I wouldn't begrudge anyone who comes to America for a better life. Afterall, my grandfather did-why shouldn't they?

About referring to people as "Oriental", Stargazer is correct. My best friend's husband is Japanese and he ALWAYS refers to people of his race as Asian. I learned in my cultural diversity course that "Oriental" is an outmoded term that has become associated with ignorance. "Asian" is now politically correct, and is the preferred address. For anyone interested, I highly recommend a course in CD. There are many lessons to learn, and it has really helped me to learn how people of different races and cultures think. And it is so important that we don't inadvertantly offend someone with our language or assumptions.

[mario_ragucci]

You don't need to watch TV to learn people are different than inanimate objects. However, folks refer to Asians as Orientals to assert bias. It's not like it was with African Americans, but folks still like to objectify whenever possible. Oriental and Asian is just a smidge example of that in America. I ain't complianing because, to me, its very interesting.