Importing Foreign-trained Nurses

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Comparison of Pending Legislation on Nursing Immigration Issues

11/05/01

"The American Nurses Association (ANA) has posted a chart which compares two bills currently pending in Congress, with an existing law that affects the status of "temporary nurse visas" issued to aliens."

Due to heavy lobbying by the hospital associations, federal legislation is now in the works to increase importation of foreign-trained nurses & make it easier to recruit more of them from other countries.

The ANA is strongly opposed to this as a solution to the shortage of bedside nurses & has testified that the shortage is largely caused by working conditions that US nurses find unacceptable. The solution is not to bring in foreign nurses who will accept these unacceptable conditions - but to improve these conditions so that US nurses will find working in these jobs worth while, will return to them and to nursing as a career.

It is the ANA's contention that filling the shortage gaps by importing foreign trained nurses side-steps and diverts attention from the immediate problem, which is the unacceptable working conditions these jobs offer all nurses - conditions which will persist if other nurses are brought into these positions from other countries and are obligated to accept these unacceptable working conditions just to remain in this country.

ANA has prepared a detailed chart comparing the current H1c visa limits and the new legislation that is pending and how they differ. ANA strongly opposes the new pending legislation and urges all nurses to contact their elected officials in doing the same.

To view comparison chart, go to ANA: Government (Federal) Affairs: Temporary Nurse Visa vrs. Rural/Urban Health Act

http://www.ana.org/gova/federal/gachrt97.htm

[oramar]

In the past a lot of people including myself have had issues with the ANA. I could see the ANA using this issue as a spring board from which they could unify the profession. Good for them, I can get behind them on this one.

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As companions to this measure opposing importation of foreign-trained nurses, the ANA was instrumental in developing the Nurse Reinvestment Act and the Nurse Retention and Quality of Care Act 2001 and obtaining support for them on Capitol Hill. These 2 acts are now in the process of legislation and need the support of nurses nationwide to push their legislators to make them law .

See previous topics "RECRUITMENT to the Profession" and "Nurse RETENTION". These 2 ANA initiatives go hand in hand with opposing the pending legislation for importing more foreign-trained nurses.

If we have these 2 acts become law, there will be no need for hospital associations to try to import more nurses from other countries.