Nursing shortages, Baby boomers and the immigrant nurse Part 2
It has been a couple of weeks since we reviewed the ongoing poll about foreign trained nurses in the USA and the trend towards blaming immigrant nurses for taking the jobs which should or should not belong to American Nurses.
The opinion is almost equally divided between the main two options - please review poll thread for further information.
Now what we really should investigate is when we say 'foreign nurses' who are we really referring to? Are we referring to Green Card holder? Or are we referring to foreign born and trained RN's? Is there a difference I hear you contemplating? Well I could predict that this would alter the opinions because those who are finger pointing may well have Green Cards themselves, even though they have probably lived for most of their lives in the USA, or have parents who remain legal Aliens and not US citizens.
Nobody complains about legal Aliens who are not RN's in the same way yet the majority and I say majority loosely because it is my opinion that almost 100% of nurses in the US are either 'legal aliens' or are already 'US Citizens, the exception these days are some Canadians who are still on working visas.
I am pretty sure somebody will prove me wrong, but hey that is the fun of these blog's and hopefully initiates some good conversation in a safe environment.
It is also my belief that the ones who criticize have no to little complaints against British, Canadian, Australian, and any other English as a first language speaking RN? The main complaints seem to be against Filipinos, Indian, and any RN who has an accent. Ok now I will bow my head and wait!
So I leave you with a thought If you are a Green Card Holder who trains in the US to be a RN, are you taking the jobs from the American Nurses or is this acceptable????
Yes, my experience is category A) or B) is preferred. I belong to category B, given all other factors being equal. But it also depends on how good the hospital recruiter or hiring manager is. When I started out, some HR staff would not even look at my application packet while my classmates got the jobs very easily. And to think I graduated at the top my my class. I am sure my English is fine. After all, prior to nursing, I earned my living talking to people and writing business reports professionally. But it took a lot of convincing to make the hiring managers sit up and listen. When I was in nursing school, I was even suspected by one professor of plagiarism because according to her, my research paper was grad school quality. I think that as nurses, we should practice what we preach about reserving judgment until we know the other person better. Stereotyping is unprofessional.
My nursing staff is multi-cultural. Most nurses coming from various countries in Africa with English as a second language. I like to think for the most part that they are all very good and competent. But, the things i have found to cause problems are... they have such a strong accent that no one can understand them, esp on the phone; their documentation and writing skills are poor with sentence formation, they do not always understand the wants and needs of a resident in the American culture, many older residents are racist and do not want "those" people to take care of them, and a multitude of others.
We have a great staff in our unit, many of them from other countries, even different continents. We are different in so many ways, but somehow this makes us more alike than you would believe. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with such a diverse group of professionals. We have fun and work pretty well together. I can't imagine a homogenous working environment..boring!!!
Infinite diversity in infinite combinations, something I've remembered from Star Trek, the original series...a Spockism.
Thats my take on foreign born and educated nurses. Love 'em!!!!!!
I believe that the "foreign nurses" being addressed here are those who are trained in another country, come here barely speaking or writing the language, and are funneled in at at low rate of pay.
They do not understand the process, and they are not help, they are hindrance.
When you need staff you need staff. But it's not just numbers. You need seasoned staff or at least staff that can bear part of the load in relative amount of time. You don't have time to explain the language of this land to someone who in additon to they pay is getting housing subsidy, a car loan guarantee.
I don't care what color they are, or whether or not they have an accent. But fair is fair.
OK,here..I'm not talking of the nurses coming here from other countries..and on the contrary..they only nurses that are widely allowed to work here in the us is from Europe.so with them it's not the English that's an issue.
but those from Africa have accent problem..but we all know they are the most suitable for the job apart from the accent part.
I interviewed a nurse a while back that had many years of experience in another country.... ICU, triage, surgical, etc.
During the interview i started to have my doubts and began to ask questions about INR's, coumadin and other meds..... she had absolutely no clus as to what I was talking about. Further questions lead me to wonder how she ever got licensed and passed the boards here.
In this case..i see why.some people have a good knowledge of how to pass tests here.so i think they faked that they had experience...outside us..it's easy to get the credentials...when you have money you can get anything in other county's.so that might be the case.you made a very wise decision..patients safety and interest comes first.
The main argument against H1B workers is that shortages are best relieved by increasing salaries. Filling vacancies with foreign workers rather than allowing the market to adjust leads to fewer domestic workers in the field and even greater shortages.
Don't fret. In two years $US value will be a disincentive to H1B workers. US citizens will vie for overseas work. As a bonus, the US govt.(sole insurer) will control salaries, working conditions, protocols, and treatments with no room for negotiation. Such is the cost of this years market interference and newly printed "money".
Hi, thanks for the post. I am one of the real foreign nurses and looking for a job in the usa. However, I don't think we are going to take jobs away from any local nurses. If hospitals can find any local nurses who are more competant to the job, they won't take the pain to hire foreign nurses. In other words, hospitals will only employ foreign nurses when they couldn't find enough american nurses.
Sorry... it seems to me that, if you're educated, have passed ALL the tests that are required to even be eligible to sit for the NCLEX, pass the NCLEX just like any US trained RN, and then apply and compete against all aplicants for a job position, and you get that position.... then you deserve it!!!! so pat yourselves on the back "immigrant nurses" and be proud of what we have accomplished........
I read your blog about foreign Nurses. The issue is NOT foreigners, but they level of RN training. Philippino nurses are being trained in their countries by American professionals and Philippino nurses are well prepared for the job.
Others have to take a different (foreigner-favorable) NCLEX after being "retrained". Some countries prepare nurses mainly "hands-on" and their program curricula is very weak and these nurses lack deep knowledge and critical thinking skills. Yet, they are "automatically" accepted as RN's provided they confirm their licenses by taking a test (I emphasize: a test different from NCLEX-RN given to AMERICAN trained nurses). It is very profitable to create "nurse shortage" -- lawyers, educational, hospital facilities recieve grants if they retrain foreign nurses and streamline them into the US hospitals. Somebody has to stop the practice and expand opportunities of AMERICANS who are willing to study and become nurses. They also have to give preference to those who have worked in healthcare before. It is a know fact that as soon as the oppotunity arises, RNs leave the "floor" and joint the administrative staff.
The Immigration Policy Center is a branch of the "think tank" operated by the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the members of which all make their living off people coming to the US from other countries. I would hardly consider them a neutral, unbiased source of information.
The mission of the American Immigration Council is to strengthen America by honoring our immigrant history and shaping how Americans think and act towards immigration now and in the future.
The American Immigration Council exists to promote the prosperity and cultural richness of our diverse nation by:
1. Educating citizens about the enduring contributions of America's immigrants;
2. Standing up for sensible and humane immigration policies that reflect American values;
3. Insisting that our immigration laws be enacted and implemented in a way that honors fundamental constitutional and human rights;
4. Working tirelessly to achieve justice and fairness for immigrants under the law."
Newbie89
3 Posts
Yes, my experience is category A) or B) is preferred. I belong to category B, given all other factors being equal. But it also depends on how good the hospital recruiter or hiring manager is. When I started out, some HR staff would not even look at my application packet while my classmates got the jobs very easily. And to think I graduated at the top my my class. I am sure my English is fine. After all, prior to nursing, I earned my living talking to people and writing business reports professionally. But it took a lot of convincing to make the hiring managers sit up and listen. When I was in nursing school, I was even suspected by one professor of plagiarism because according to her, my research paper was grad school quality. I think that as nurses, we should practice what we preach about reserving judgment until we know the other person better. Stereotyping is unprofessional.