Is the Grass Really Greener Stateside? Honestly.

[Lone Stranger]

i have been to c&e bookstore in recto, manila today (june 24, 2006)and they were selling stacks and stacks of nursing books. vans waited outside to cart more books in. no doubt about it, here in the philippines everyone and their uncle wants to be a nurse.

big question for nurses already in the u.s. : are you able to save? is the work worth the pay? forgive me for being so straightforward but is your lot better than what it was back in the philippines?

[Roy Fokker, BSN, RN]

you're so right, daning. i think financial traps come easy with a swell-paying job. you're offered left and right all kinds of things and if you're not very careful, you'll end up sinking in debt.

i think it's by far the wisest advise anyone can give to a new immigrant: build a nice credit score (and keep it there). your lifetime financial success greatly depends on this number.

First thing I'm going to do when I pay off my credit card debt is to cut that evil thing into six pieces, burn it, and flush the ashes down the toilet!

For the past 8 months, I've been cash and debit only, thank you!

The credit card lies dormant in my wallet - I'll use it only when I have an emergency or something.

[uberdoog]

it is but human nature to look beyond the fence..to check out what lies beyond the bend. i've been a nurse there in the phil., middle east and now here in the states in a span of 12 years. it all depends on how you look at things. if you are willing to work hard and aim high, you will reap your rewards. i have seen the ups and downs of filipino nurses in the us. as they say, you reap what you sow.

that's somewhat too cryptic and hardly helps. what ups have you seen? what downs? in the u.s. anyway?

[uberdoog]

Going back to your question, YES! it is totally worth it. I have been here almost three years and i actually invested on several businesses and owned two fully paid high end condos in the philippines.

Now yer talking. Ok, I'm willing to put in the time then. Thanks!

[uberdoog]

sorry to put my white nose where it may not belong but i have an affinity for your country and great respect for pinoy/pinay nurses.

your nose is very welcome!

it is hard to adjust to the brutality of us nursing for some of my friends. particularly dt the fact that a great deal of nurses are racist still in this day and age. .

appreciated, mike. this aspect of the work is often forgotten or glossed over because it's too upsetting and/or embarrassing. we been duly warned.

i hope this makes sense. really want to say "nantindan mo?" but that is against the rules here and for a good reason. english is professional, so do you unterstand? if not, let me know cause i care...

got it.

[Lone Stranger]

Honestly?

The grass is greener in the US.

I know I'm not Filipino and I don't want to seem like I'm treading toes here, but I ask that you hear me out.

I come from that part of the world.

And I say that I'd be in the US even if it meant working at McDonalds everyday for the rest of my life :) The opportunities that I have found here that encourage and push me to achieve my true potential - I have found nowhere else.

You sound exhilirated. Could you tell me what opportunities you'd identified and how you'd been pushed to your true potential?

[nrswnabee]

Nicely stated. But....I spent 8 years in the Navy and had a lot of Pinoy shipmates both in the fleet aboard ship/with the USMC and in a couple of Hospitals. They do tend to group together. Probably for a reason. It used to be if you were a Navy Pinoy you could only be a slave to an Officer, then a cook. Now any rating is open.

So there is an inherent racism in the Military and it spills over.

I learned from other Nurses from ROP a few words of Tagalog and treated them with the same respect of my other co workers ir respective of race. It was amazing as so few caucasian Nurses took the time to befriend them.

In school I found out much to my chagrin, that the "Circle of Filipinos" who always isolated themselves was because they were "taught" ((their words))

to beware of white people particularly men.

Again, with a small bit of extending myself to them I was repaid inumerable times by this group in terms of studying and becoming friends with them.

To quote Rodney King "Can't we all just get along"

A year ago as a student I heard two travelers one from Michigan and African American the other a white lady from the deep south. Change of shift and they covered all the Nursing report. "Ohh he is one of those asian types speaks some language called Tee Ayy Gee Ayy Ohh Ell Gee. "well we dont have any of those types where I come from" "me either" "What the hell is Tagalog"

I was steaming as this is the Bay Area and a melting pot. I told them Tagalog was the main non English language of the Philippines and if they needed a translator 50% of the full time staff spoke English and Tagalog fluently. And if you want to work in the Bay Area you need to lose the attitude and my Name is Mike, this is my school, this is my Clin Instructor's name and phone number and here is my school's Nursing Dept. Director's Name and phone number.

They were speechless a mere student was so fired up by their rascism over a client. Did it do any good, probably for that one patient who knows. My point is it is a two way street.

All cultures here must learn to assimilate. All it takes is a few words, a smile and genuineness. Whatever our culture, race, background, sexual preference, religous preference, gender etc. we are all Nurses and should treat each other like Brothers and Sisters ideally.

I know this is a pipe dream but all it takes is one open mind to start.

Thanks for your insight.

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yeah, the r-word. that's one thing migrants face as a weighty issue clashing head-on against the financial gains of working in the u.s. it is a 2-way street but i've come to terms with the fact that the migrant clearly has the greater responsibility of being tough-skinned. you can't change people but you CAN definitely change the way you perceive situations even to the point of turning on a deaf ear/a blind eye to words/actions of ignoramuses. sometimes, IT'S JUST NOT worth it so walk away and curb that boiling temper. other times, you may just have been watching too many movies and being so sensitive lately you mistake people's actions to be "r-inspired". now if it becomes too glaring to be ignored, you'll have to look them in the eye and say something....and while doing so, keep a good handle on your knuckles curious to see if these kind of people bleed red....

[uberdoog]

And I say that I'd be in the US even if it meant working at McDonalds everyday for the rest of my life :) The opportunities that I have found here that encourage and push me to achieve my true potential - I have found nowhere else.

I've also worked McDonalds For the rest of your life? Quite a hyperbole. Share the story then?

[FutureUSRN]

My husband is already earning more than 100K per month here in the Philippines and yet we are still planning to immigrate to the US. Our simple excuse is that we are doing this for our children...for their future. Healthcare and Education in the US are the best in the world. These are among the basics we want our children to enjoy. We don't want to see them in the future trying to apply for immigration when the chance is now here...right before our face.

We've been in the US several times as tourists and we've seen the differences. But, the thing that matter is how you spend your life where ever you are!