How come a foreign nurse can find a job but American nurses can't?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I went to this hospital in Boston to see a friend of mine who just had a baby. In the room, there were 2 nurses talking and they had the tag on them that indicated that they were RNs.

They had a heavy accent and probably from Africa, they were speaking French between them for some reason. So my friend was out for a test and I was sitting in this chair in the room, I asked them where they were from and how long they have been in the states, etc.

I swear to god, I was not able to understand their responses. I mean, one of them have been in the US for over 10 years and I had to ask 3 times to understand what she was saying.

She saw me having hard time understanding, she pulled a piece of paper from her pocket and wrote down what she meant. This is what she wrote (remember she is a RN)

Piliiz tel your frenid to full the form after she cames

Now, I can understand having an accent, but I mean how do these people pass NCLEX with this level of English?

Maybe NCLEX used to be much easier 10 years ago?

How does the US Govt allow all these foreign workers when thousands of nurses are unemployed? Or maybe there is abig nurse shortage that we can not see with our eyese? I am reading in other forums that lot of American nurses are working for less than $20/hr.

I would like to hear your comments.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

Was the hospital or nonunion....

Up Vote Up Vote ×

This is a controversial subject in the nursing community but not necessarily with the American public.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER.

How did they get by TOEFL?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Reap what you Sow. The Nursing Unions and there lobby arm has been using the "Nusing Shortage" alarm to lobby congress and the president to increase $$ for education and also hammer this idea of low supply and high demand to lobby for higher wages.

What the Unions should know, is that Hospitals have there own lobby group and they in turn use the Nurses own admission of a shortage to increase work visas.

The Philippines (a Nurse factory) whole program is set around the idea of working outside of there country. With The US being there #1 destination.

More than Half-a-Million ready to come and take your Job at any given point.

The whole point about "making America more competitive" as pushed by Obama

is a mute point. The whole world has access to the same books MIT, Harvard etc uses. They send people to get the Doctorates here and then go back and teach our own programs in there own countries; making a educational advantage a pipe dream. Other countries copy our Nursing program to the T

making no distinction between your self and them other than an "accent"

Welcome to the new reality

Illegal Immigration taking non education skilled jobs from the bottom and foreign American style education skilled labor from the Top and us Americans getting squeezed in the middle.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I know that you meant well, but I would like you to consider a couple points.

Our minds are very powerful tools that can amazingly twist even benign situations. Hence the reason that people with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, and Acute Paranoia and multiple other psychiatric patients somehow interpret everyday data as threatening or dangerous.

The point, if you are clearly so prejudiced in your mind, nothing that the black nurses said will be clear to you, no matter how competent and thoughful they are. The nurses that you are describing are not the kind that can be hired at any hospital. I have lived and worked in both major cities and very rural areas. Areas so remote that I was asked direct questions by children as " why are your skin so brown?". However, I have an excellent work history and a resume, and have been able to repeatedly use my stellar work reputation as insurance againt people who are unable to accept that the color of my skin has nothing to do with my competence level.

If you are complaining on this website, I am sure that you complained to their nurse manager. I can almost bet that s/he rooted for them.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I also find it very interesting that the argument that foreign nurses are here to "take our jobs" is used so often. Are you really telling me that you are so insecure in your skills that you are unable to compete at the international level? That you need de facto or dejure hiring discrimination to be successfull?

Maybe then we should push for a revolution in the American education system; resulting in world class professional classwho know that they can compete any day of the week against any other country, in any profession.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Emergency Medicine.

They actually WORK...

...and they do it with much less complaining.

I'm sure that's painful for some of you but it's the truth.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in LTC Rehab Med/Surg.
I know that you meant well, but I would like you to consider a couple points.

Our minds are very powerful tools that can amazingly twist even benign situations. Hence the reason that people with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, and Acute Paranoia and multiple other psychiatric patients somehow interpret everyday data as threatening or dangerous.

The point, if you are clearly so prejudiced in your mind, nothing that the black nurses said will be clear to you, no matter how competent and thoughful they are. The nurses that you are describing are not the kind that can be hired at any hospital. I have lived and worked in both major cities and very rural areas. Areas so remote that I was asked direct questions by children as " why are your skin so brown?". However, I have an excellent work history and a resume, and have been able to repeatedly use my stellar work reputation as insurance againt people who are unable to accept that the color of my skin has nothing to do with my competence level.

If you are complaining on this website, I am sure that you complained to their nurse manager. I can almost bet that s/he rooted for them.

I did not read anything racist into the OPs post.

I even went back and read it again. I felt the OPs observations and questions were valid. Can we not comment on someones' language and ethnicity? If we do is that racist?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Everything boils down to this;

If there are many American nurses unemployed and many many nurses are working for sub $20/hr, then how come foreigners are let in the country?

This is the main question.

Either, people who say "there is a huge nurse shortage in the US" are lying, or the nurses in this board saying "we can not find a job" or "even if we find a job they pay much less than what we expect" are lying.

Someone is lying but I don't know who.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
I did not read anything racist into the OPs post.

I sincerely understand that is very hard for you to see.

1. Because they have an accent they are not considered American.

2. Because they are black with an accent they are assumed to be from Africa.

3. Because they have an accent, they are unable to speak Standard English.

4. Because they are black, with an accent and knowledge of a second language, they are not American. Therefore they do not deserve their job. The white girl who is unable to speak a second language and says she is Amercan should have gotten the job instead. Even though she didnt apply for it.

I suppose the next step is to demand a birth certificate.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

I think it is faulty to base that on a nurse that was brought on 10 years ago.

No there is no shartage currently, no there shouldn't be any visas currently, but until nurses stick together instead of ripping each other apart and demand change nothing is going to happen.

No way this thread can get anything but crazy so someone please pop me some popcorn and i will get the blender going for Margaritas. Going to be a fun night at the fights!:lol2::lol2::lol2:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment