Survey: Should the U.S. recruit nurses from other countries?

Level2Trauma · Jun 30, 2001

The atmosphere has never been better for improving the working conditions for nurses in the USA. However, I honestly believe that recruiting nurses from other conutries will only be detremential to the advancement of nursing profession in the USA. The bottom line is; if the hospitals and other organizations treat the current nurses properly in regards to, no mandatory OT, higher wages, better benefits, and safe staffing ratios, there would be no need to import nurses from other countries. Common Sense should prevail in this matter. Hypothetically speaking, If a nurse was making $10/hr in another country, Do you not think that $15/hr would seem lucrative to them. Meanwhile the nurse already making this find it very difficult to raise a family. MY opinion; BRING UM ON IF YOU WANT TO, BUT DON"T COMPLAIN WHEN YOU DON'T GET RAISES AND WORKING CONDITIONS ARE NOT ADDRESSED!!!!

georgia nurse · Jul 1, 2001

I think we should welcome foreign nurses but not recruit them. The emphasis has to be on fixing what's wrong with nursing so we can recruit our young people into nursing, and retain the rest of us.

JMP · Jul 1, 2001

I am a Canadian- graduated in May. I have been overwhelmed with job offers from the states......pick a state........any state and I bet I have heard from them and they are offering everything from sign on bonuses to encentives to complete a few months work. I am staying here in Canada for now- there is a shortage here too- and I had a good offer from a local teaching hospital/

So in regards to your poll- THEY ARE ACTIVELY RECRUITING- BIG TIME.........at least in Ontario, Canada. I expect eveywhere.

NurseTami · Jul 2, 2001

I say Yes- BUT- only if their colleges are on a parallel level with ours. I have worked with Nurses who have been here working for three years who have no clue. a coworker told me this one night a patient fell out of bed and the nurse found him in a pool of blood. All the nurse could do was stand in the doorway and shout BLOOD!!!! One of the same group- (oh yeah, they came in a group of ten) was 'orientating' me. She pulls on a pair of gloves, pulls off the pts dressings on multiple decub sites, cleanses them, redresses them, then puts his meds down his Peg, then starts his breathing tx. Never changed gloves or washed hands. This was a BSN from a group of little islands in the South Pacific. :eek: I reported this to a supervisor- nowadays I am assertive enpough to stop her and make her do it the right way!!!!!!!!

My point is that we could be asking for trouble if you get peolpe that were educated in grass huts.

essarge · Jul 2, 2001

I attend a school that trains foreign students in a BSN program. Most are from the islands and a few from Africa. They are very serious about their education and do very well considering that this is truly foreign to them. One of my good friends is from Haiti and she isn't sure if she wants to work here in the states because of the pre-concieved notion that she is less than any other RN because she is "foreign".

I feel that if the nurse is trained here in the states and goes through the rigorous training here that is fine. I feel that perhaps a "bridge" type program made mandatory for nurses trained overseas before they are allowed to practice and also having to take boards here to practice would be a viable option that the industry should be made to do. If the industry wants to recruit outside the U.S., then make them pay to have well trained nurses!!!

CONANCRYAN · Jul 2, 2001

Originally posted by brian
Please take time to cast your vote. You will find the poll at the bottom of the https://allnurses.com/ homepage. Once you cast your vote, come back here to place your comments!

Just click the post reply button.

Thanks

In reply to recruiting from foreign countries,I believe that everyone ha a right to live and work wherever they choose,remember this a free country, we all originated from somewhere else, but training and english classes should be mandatory, many patients complain that they cannot understand what their nurse is saying to them, which makes them worry about what they should be doing,what staff wil be doing to them etc.. thus makes th satisaction level of their stay drop. I cant even understand some o them, they came here, they must be able to communicate with the patients and other staff in order to keep patients informed on their health, procedures, etc...

sr1228 · Jul 2, 2001

We really need to fix the problem that exists here before we recruit elsewhere!!!! We would then be able to retain those experienced nureses that we have now and also be able to recruit from our citizens. If a foreign nurse should relocate to this country on her own she/he should have to take the boards for the state they are requesting to work in and should take refresher courses.They should be certified in their field of work in order to be sure that their knowledge and practices are up to snuff. When employed by a hospital the orientation should be thorough!!! A must is that she/he should speak our language!!!

Emergency Dept. RN with 36 years experience looking forward to retirement!!!!

ClariceS · Jul 2, 2001

It would be great if we didn't have to actively recruit from out of country but if we can't get people to go into nursing here, we have little choice.

I actually moved here from Canada (thus my avatar - resident alien) where they were not offering full time positions. At the time I moved, they were only hiring (for part time) nurses with btwn 5 and 15 years experience. I definitely am against closing the doors to foreign nurses - for obvious reasons. But I sure wish we were able to recruit local nurses who know the area's culture. Foreign nurses, no matter where from, have a learning curve there. I have just helped hand-hold a couple nurses from the Philippines through this stage. I wouldn't have survived here without someone who did that for me.

The need for nurses - especially in the southern US - is too great not to recruit anywhere nurses can be found. I know the Texas BNE has set standards of training and testing that must be met before the nurse will be granted license here. And I know that my hospital does further testing regarding their level of education before letting them work. After these have been passed, we welcome them with open arms.:)

lynnellirving · Jul 2, 2001

Hi! I am all for recruiting foreign nurses. I am also a recruit from Canada. I graduated in '88 and we had recruiters from 10 US states come to our school recruiting. I did not come to the US at that time, however. I moved in '94 after my husband was transferred with his company. I think the reason US recruiters target Canada so vigorously is because our training is on-par with the schools in the US and we speak the same language. We have to adapt to a few different things (charging for supplies, utilizing equipment that may be different, etc.) but we don't struggle with a language/cultural difference (unless you go to the south!! like I did!). I have trained/oriented several foreign nurses since coming to the US, and yes, many things are done differently in different countries. I does take much more time and attention to train some foreign nurses, and that is definately a draw back. I agree that if nurses got more respect, better wages and had better working conditions, there would be less need for recruiting of foreign nurses.

laurasc · Jul 2, 2001

It's interesting that the majority have said no...yet up here in Canada there are lots and lots of ads in the local paper from US hospitals all but begging for nurses to move south of the border.

Diana61 · Jul 2, 2001

This is really unacceptable. One of our local hospitals will bring in 75 nurses from overseas next month.

Some of the other hospitals had started allowing flex time, increased salaries, etc.

I'm sure that when 75 nurses are dumped into the pool, we will see these gains again

be lost. Is it too much to ask for decent wages, working conditions, and a family friendly

employer. There was recently a study done that showed there is no present nursing

shortage. There are plenty of nurses, they just refuse to work for substandard wages and

in the working conditions of modern hospitals.