Survey: Should nurses from other countries be recruited to aid in the nursing shortag

Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN · Jun 21, 2004

Could you split the hair a little more puhlease! That is like saying we don't have a gas shortage we have an oil shortage! Yes we do have a nursing shortage, even though there are more than one hundred thousand licensed nurses that are not currently working that creates a nursing shortage, if they are not working as nurses.
I don't understand why anyone wants to argue the issue of a shortage. If there are not enough nurses working there is a shortage. Many of the nurses that continue to have a license will never return for reasons such as having married a Doctor, or someone else with enough money to support them, it's like a hairdresser, even though you have no intention of returning to work it is prudent to keep your license updated and valid because one never knows what might happen.

I doubt that very many nurses have left nursing because they married a doctor! Probably one half of one percent.

I am married to a PhD prepared research scientist. I am still hanging in there, trying to make nursing work for me. However, it gets harder every day.

Mgmt sends nurses home and cuts their hours at every nursing job I've ever had. Short staffing, not a nursing shortage, is the reality.

When will people wake up and realize there is no freakin' nursing shortage!

The real shortage is in tolerable working conditions for nurses.

I could not disagree more with your opinions.

Sheri257 · Jun 21, 2004

When will people wake up and realize there is no freakin' nursing shortage! The real shortage is in tolerable working conditions for nurses.

As I've stated before, I agree that there may not be a "real" shortage now, but there will probably be a "real" shortage in the future.

The pool of non-working licensed RNs won't come close to filling the projected vacancies in the next 16 years, even if working conditions improved, and even if you assume all of them could return to work.

CHATSDALE · Jun 21, 2004

SWHYTE sounds like a person who goes into another person's house and c/o the decor and food etc.....(s)he should feel that the people she works with are professional...by the way the one of the worse nurses i ever worked with came to us as a traveling nurse...she wasn't bad because she was canadian she was just one of those people whom you can never figure out who she got through school with so little practical knowledge and a poor work ethic

Nurselinks · Jun 21, 2004

This month's survey Question:
Should nurses from other countries be recruited to aid in the nursing shortage?
Please take a minute to take answer our survey and please feel free to reply to this topic to post any comments that you may have on the topic.

I think more efforts should be made to use our already available pool of nurses. Making it more accessible for LPN to get their RN training without jumping through whoops. I would much rather have a persons care for me that have an excellent command of the English language. I do not think that a patient should be burden with the problem of trying to understand what their caregiver is trying to communicate. I am a strong advocate of having available translations services 24 hours 7 days a week to ensure that all patient get equal care and understand what is required of them as patients.

I have be in situations where the patient was almost abused because there were no one present to translate, so the patient was over sedated and I feel that the basic needs of the patient had not been met.

suzanne4, RN · Jun 21, 2004

I think more efforts should be made to use our already available pool of nurses. Making it more accessible for LPN to get their RN training without jumping through whoops. I would much rather have a persons care for me that have an excellent command of the English language. I do not think that a patient should be burden with the problem of trying to understand what their caregiver is trying to communicate. I am a strong advocate of having available translations services 24 hours 7 days a week to ensure that all patient get equal care and understand what is required of them as patients.
I have be in situations where the patient was almost abused because there were no one present to translate, so the patient was over sedated and I feel that the basic needs of the patient had not been met.

Fitst there are 24 hour translation services available. It is thru ATT. It is impossible to have some-one in house to translate for all languages. If the hospital uses a service then they have certified translators available, quite helpful when you are not even asure od what the language is.

Foreign nurses need to have English skills now to be equal to those of a native speaker. They are probably better than quite a few Americans. If there pronunciation is wrong, they do not pass. Those nurses that are in the US on temporary work permits are not having them renewed.

Not sure where you work.............

And would a patient be over-sedated because someone couldn't understanad the language??? Poor excuse. Doesn't fly with me.

totallytheresa · Jun 22, 2004

Well I thought this to be funny. My bf came over just the other night, seems someone he has sold several cars to at the dealership he works in is an Indian businessman. This man evidently is planning on bringing over about 10,000 nurses from India, where they make hardly any money, and having them live and work here, due to our "nursing shortage" as well as the one expected once baby boomers get older. This man expects to make huge amounts of money off of this, and the big plan is to have them send money home to help their families, his way of "giving back". Ha. And he wants my bf to head up his operation, acclimate these nurses to life in the states, get apts, cell phones, cars, etc... and that he will make my bf a very wealthy man. Well I told him that I thought the whole thing sounded pretty hokey- for one thing. For another- lets make nursing school affordable to us, right here. I am able to put myself through school, but I bet there are many people out there who cannot afford this opportunity.

BRAGGY · Jun 22, 2004

Hello there! I am a RN from Australia, as well I have worked in England and I can tell you this, that it is the same old story! "Nursing shortages" And like America, every other industralised country does the same, when it comes to nursing shortages, recruit, any nurse, from anywhere! Personally I like foreign nurses, I have been one myself! As far as supply and demand cycle goes, unlike other industries, I have found to some degree the effect on wage premiums in nursing has been negligable. What about the nurses out there, do you think foreign nurses working in your market place has a real effect on wage premiums in your area?

Braggy from down under.

mfdteacher wrote:
We do not need foreign nurses, we need to address the problems imposed by the system currently in place. As long as the dollar is more important than the patient, we'll never go back to the hospital.
You said it best! I don't mind being mindful of the budget crisis in health care, but let the doctors shoulder some of the responsibility in the situation. As for foreign nurses? We are a town of 36,000 and have a community college close by that has ADN and an LPN programs. It is the only thing that keeps our shortage at bay.

suzanne4, RN · Jun 22, 2004

Well I thought this to be funny. My bf came over just the other night, seems someone he has sold several cars to at the dealership he works in is an Indian businessman. This man evidently is planning on bringing over about 10,000 nurses from India, where they make hardly any money, and having them live and work here, due to our "nursing shortage" as well as the one expected once baby boomers get older. This man expects to make huge amounts of money off of this, and the big plan is to have them send money home to help their families, his way of "giving back". Ha. And he wants my bf to head up his operation, acclimate these nurses to life in the states, get apts, cell phones, cars, etc... and that he will make my bf a very wealthy man. Well I told him that I thought the whole thing sounded pretty hokey- for one thing. For another- lets make nursing school affordable to us, right here. I am able to put myself through school, but I bet there are many people out there who cannot afford this opportunity.

He can plan on bringing over as many nurses as he wants, but they have to get a green card first, and with that they have to pass the speaking part of the IELTS or the TSE. And most of them don't, especially coming from India.

Your boyfriend may be wating quite a long time. Average time to get a green card is about two years for many states.

totallytheresa · Jun 22, 2004

Thank you very much- exactly what I told my bf- that they can't just show up here and begin practicing! Even if I moved to another state here, I would have to become certified in their state!

He can plan on bringing over as many nurses as he wants, but they have to get a green card first, and with that they have to pass the speaking part of the IELTS or the TSE. And most of them don't, especially coming from India.
Your boyfriend may be wating quite a long time. Average time to get a green card is about two years for many states.

chris_at_lucas_RN, RN · Jun 22, 2004

As bad as things may seem in the US, it is nothing compared to the situation in the countries from which nurses are recruited, in many cases. The recruiters tend to be money-grubbers who mislead these nurses into believing they will make big money, but they do not give them a very good idea of the cost of living.

Also, we have enough nurses, we just don't have enough nurses working. They leave the profession for lots of reasons, but a lot of times it is due to working conditions. If foreign nurses are brought in to fill the gap, the problems will never be resolved. In effect, these nurses are willing (apparently) to put up with the problems, which we often equate to unsafe patient situations, in order to live in the US and/or make more money.

Let's face it, if they made this much money, parity considered, in their own countries, they would probably stay there.

Bottom line: every time we bring a foreign nurse into the US to fill the gap here, many patients in their home countries go without care. EVERY SINGLE TIME.

suzanne4, RN · Jun 22, 2004

They need to first apply to a state board of nursing for an ATT letter to take the NCLEX exam. As a foreign trained nurse, wait can be any where from two to six months, or even longer. They have to write the NCLEX exam, a few states still require that the nurse actually writes the CGFNS exam, if so, that process adds on another 5 months. They have to sit for the full set of English exams, and after they pass everything, it takes about four months for the Visa Screen Certificate. Then comes the petitioning by the hospital or agency, and that can be over one year. So it is not an easy task......

moonladye · Jun 22, 2004

hi, at my workplace 80% of our staff are foriegn, they come from India, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Phillipines and China, England, Scotland , Fiji and Australia. With a good orientation programme and ongoing support they do very well. I guess all the kiwi nurses are working overseas to pay off their huge student loans!!