Fillipino nurses, their way of doing things abroad

[Butterflybee]

I have been looking for threads on this topic,so far all of these threads get closed up (locked). That is a sad thing because as a non-filipino nurse we need a place to go to talk about this.This doesnt mean necessarily in a negative way. I dont dare say one thing or my thoughts because it will be closed. I will say this my new, first job it is apparently a Filipino hospital. I assumed it was an American one. I was hired by the one of the handful of Americans. Already I see the standards are different and there are other noticeable differences as well. Reading the other threads on this topic was a tremendous help. As an American we are accustomed to a high quality of care being given, good amount of honesty & integrity, cleanliness, compassion for the patient as a living human being. I chose to work here because of all the experience I would have but I want to learn the correct way. Also not all but most of these nurses seem not to welcome outsiders as Ive already been forewarned. These are the ones that either throw their credentials in my face without being asked or act so mean and disagreeable and write up another nurse without so much as a simple warning first. I am glad that I was able to find other nurses at allnurses willing to talk about this and that I am not the only one noticing these things. There are other foreigners but there are not as many as the filipinos. Things are not all hearts and flowers, this is a nursing board where we need to be able to be open to discuss our experiences. Commenting on this is not biased but based on the fact of personal experiences. Evidently USA healthcare standards are decling based on this and what can you do when those in charge are filipinos.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

I think the problem with these kinds of threads is that people's prejudices can be read between the line, or sometimes they are totally blatent with it.

About five years ago we opened a new unit in our hospital, a medical telemetry unit becuase our cardiac unit was over burdened with medical telemtry patients. We are in an area that is already hard to staff with RNs, so the facility recruited six Filipino nurses to help open the unit. I decided to help them open the unit and was a charge nurse on night shift.

The Filipino nurses had a work ethic that put most of us Americans to shame. They worked hard, listened, was easily delegated to, were helpful, neat, organized, friendly and educated. They were extremely open minded and easy to train. If they weren't doing something right they only needed to be told once.

My experience with Filipino nurses has been nothing but positive.

[Butterflybee]

I think the problem with these kinds of threads is that people's prejudices can be read between the line, or sometimes they are totally blatent with it.

About five years ago we opened a new unit in our hospital, a medical telemetry unit becuase our cardiac unit was over burdened with medical telemtry patients. We are in an area that is already hard to staff with RNs, so the facility recruited six Filipino nurses to help open the unit. I decided to help them open the unit and was a charge nurse on night shift.

The Filipino nurses had a work ethic that put most of us Americans to shame. They worked hard, listened, was easily delegated to, were helpful, neat, organized, friendly and educated. They were extremely open minded and easy to train. If they weren't doing something right they only needed to be told once.

My experience with Filipino nurses has been nothing but positive.

Having lived in the USA all of my life, like I said Im used to a high standard, good quality, integrity, a show of compassion in the hospital setting. Ive been a patient, visited, worked all over the US. I can remember horrible treatment Ive had as a patient by filipino nurses and they were mean too. At that time there werent very many of them.

What may come across as 'blatant' prejudices can be what Americans are accustomed to. I have met nice ones of course. Im speaking about the facility where I am and generalizing (a for the most part). As for putting American to shame.... now that's funny. That being said, I had a filipino instructor that was so nice and helpful, I love her.

Overall though since I now work along side them as a nurse I cannot say that my personal experience generally with filipino nurses is a positive one. Already Ive seen them argue in front of patients one time even using the F word.

You sound like someone that was in a superior position so they made themselves look good but Im a peer so the phony faces come off because there isnt anything I can do to them and why do they have to respect me. It's the same evidently with the patients.

Your experience isnt all that common as Ive read from many previous posts that have since been locked so no one else can comment on them. As Ive said, nonfilipino nurses simply need a place to discuss these things because these are our experiences.

[nrsang97, BSN, RN]

I have never had a problem with my Fillipino co workers. They are nothing short of wonderful. Hard working and great nurses.

[Eirene, ASN, RN]

I work with several co-workers who are filipino; several nurses, one aide, and several housekeepers.

From my experiences, they have all been very pleasant and hardworking-- always lending a hand to me when needed. Believe me, I'm nobody to impress!

It may be from your side of the country and perhaps has more to do with geography rather than culture.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Having lived in the USA all of my life, like I said Im used to a high standard, good quality, integrity, a show of compassion in the hospital setting. .....................Your experience isnt all that common as Ive read from many previous posts that have since been locked so no one else can comment on them. As Ive said, nonfilipino nurses simply need a place to discuss these things because these are our experiences.

I'm not comfortable with what essentially is "let's bash Filipino" nurses thread and I hope no one bites. It doesn't sit right with me to single them out. I have worked with countless Filipino nurses as a peer, not just a charge nurse. My hospital has Filipino nurses who have been there over 30 years, many in positions of authority with very high standards. Also if you know the threads have consistently been shut down why are you pushing the envelope yet again?

Look at the "nurses eat their young" thread and any number of other threds, if you think Americans are such high quality people with integrity and a show of compassion. There have been threads that nurses are catty gossipy backstabbing nurse eating people. Is it fair for all of us to wear that label?

[LovebugLPN]

I have worked with nurses and CNAs from many countries and I must say I prefer working with them. I get tired of the sense of entitlement and superiority that a lot of Americans have. We take for granted all of the opportunities we have while people from the Phillipines, for example, come and work hard realizing that the whole world is not about them and instead of complaining they realize it could be a lot worse.

[nightmare, RN]

I have worked with a variety of foreign staff,English,Polish,Czech and Filipino.They all bring something to the work place.Yes I have had lazy,arrogant,Filipinos and really nice, hard working ones as well.I have also had lazy arrogant English and Scottish staff as well.Surely all nations have a mixture of types of people.At the end of the day it is their work ethic that counts not their nationality.

[shodobe]

I work in a facility that has many Fillipinas that work in various departments. I have to say that the ones who work in my PACU are very competent and caring. There are many others, particularily the ones who make up the majority of staff in our NeuroCare unit that take the best care of these chronically ill patients. I for one couldn't do it. On the other hand though, I do find many that work on other floors, M/S, ICCU, etc... that brings into question the skills of other Fillipinas, It goes both ways for competemcy among ALL nurses. I see poor skill levels on all ethnicity levels so it really doesn't matter. I also believe there should be a moratorium on the import of foreign trained nurses because it just saturates the nursing community with a lot of questionable individuals.

[GilaRRT]

Hmmm, looking at things in a different light, I suspect most of this is simply cultural differences and differences in speech and articulation. Differences in gestures exist as well.

If you have never experienced life out of the United States, it is easy to think that the world must interact the same as we do. The reality is much different. I have had to learn that some of the things I consider normal in the USA are not universal ways of interacting. For example, rapid animated speech usually means some sort of drama in the US; however, it is quite normal over here. I was a little concerned the first few times I herd our guards talking over the radios. I though something bad was occurring, when they were simply telling their buddies the new shift has arrived. I think this misinterpretation of speech and methods of interaction can lead us into making assumptions about people that are simply not correct.

The good news is that most of the people I work around are very understanding. I think this differs somewhat from what I experience in the US. We tend to see things in a much more linear fashion. Our way is the only way and anything different must be bad. This sense of entitlement that some people talk about fits into the said concept. However, it may be more ignorance and a bit of arrogance that comes with anybody on their home turf. I imagine most people are a bit more humble and take a bit more time to analyze behaviors and interaction when they leave the comfort of their own home. Well, some of us do. I am disappointed to say, I have seen more than a few from the US behave quite poorly and make a**** out of themselves on foreign soil.

This is not to say we should tolerate pernicious behavior; however, we should step back a bit and analyze the situation. Perhaps the solution lies in understanding and developing plan rather than rash actions and assumptions.

I hope somebody can see a point to all of my rambling?

[NursKris82]

I'm really proud of everyone's mainly positive comments. Posting about philipino nurses is just racism, period. Call it what you want but any time you group a whole bunch of people together based on ethnicity and make generalizations- it racism!

[inshallamiami]

All I can do is relate my experiences. Years ago I worked in a unit that was all Irish nurses, initially I felt I didn't belong, I felt excluded, partly due to cultural/language problems, must be the fault of the Irish, but eventually it worked out well. A few years after that, I worked in a unit with mostly Fillipino nurses, again I felt excluded, left out due to cultural/language problems etc., again the problem must be Phillipinos, right? Again, it eventually smoothed out. Few years later, it was Jamaican Nurses, again the same inital problem. Then, one day, I worked in a unit that had Irish, Fillipinos, Jamaican, American and others, and guess what, it was great! We worked as a team. We were a family.

My point is that being different, for whatever the reason, can be difficult. Being an "outsider" is hard but CAN be dealt with. Cut "them" some slack, give yourself some time, and open your heart.