There is no nursing shortage!

[elkpark]

I am a Filipino nurse working my way to the US because a beginning nurse here in the Philippines earns only about a hundred dollars a month. We're told that there is a nursing shortage in the US. So, if what you're telling is true then we've been duped.

We are also told that the staffing in most US hospitals is very ideal. A nurse cares for a maximum of 5 patients. Here, a nurse cares for 20 or more patients in a shift.

I've easily hurdled the CGFNS, NCLEX-RN and IELTS exams required for foreign nurses but with what you're telling I think shouldn't have taken those exams at all. Anyway, I'll have to prove it myself. I guess Filipinos can easily take the challenge of being overworked and underpaid but of course we do know how to assert our rights when worst comes to worst.

I am hoping for the best.

From reading the threads on this board about nursing education and nursing in the Philippines, it sounds like you all are being misled and taken advantage of on a number of subjects. Also, have you been reading and staying informed about the new delays/barriers to coming to the US?

"Very ideal" staffing and 5 patients/max in the US is either a very bad joke :icon_roll or an outright lie.

As for "tak(ing) the challenge of being overworked and underpaid," there are plenty of US nurses who believe that importation of foreign nurses, who are (understandably) happy to get wages and working conditions/standards that are much higher than they can get in their own country, is a significant factor keeping us from being able to improve conditions for nurses here ... You note that RNs in the Phillipines earn ~$100/month; how would you (RNs in the Phillipines, that is) like it if a whole bunch of RNs came into your country from abroad, who thought that $50/month was wealth beyond anything they'd ever dreamed of in their own country, and would put up with nearly anything in order to have a nursing job that paid $50/month? What do you think would happen to the current nursing salaries and job conditions in the Phillipines? :uhoh21: I can tell you what would happen -- the salaries and working conditions would drop, and, as long as there were people willing to work for the lower salaries and worse conditions, you'd have a v. hard time improving anything.

Sure, there are nursing jobs here -- but a lot of those jobs are available because many US nurses aren't willing to be worked and treated like pack animals, and refuse to take those jobs. As long as employers can find nurses (from wherever) who are willing to put up with lousy salaries and working conditions, they have no reason to make any changes ...

Please note that I am not criticizing you at all for wanting to make a better life for yourself. But there are (at least :)) two sides to every issue.

[fizz2Nurse]

I am a Filipino nurse working my way to the US because a beginning nurse here in the Philippines earns only about a hundred dollars a month. We're told that there is a nursing shortage in the US. So, if what you're telling is true then we've been duped.

We are also told that the staffing in most US hospitals is very ideal. A nurse cares for a maximum of 5 patients. Here, a nurse cares for 20 or more patients in a shift.

I've easily hurdled the CGFNS, NCLEX-RN and IELTS exams required for foreign nurses but with what you're telling I think shouldn't have taken those exams at all. Anyway, I'll have to prove it myself. I guess Filipinos can easily take the challenge of being overworked and underpaid but of course we do know how to assert our rights when worst comes to worst.

I am hoping for the best.

I wouldn't go so far as to say you shouldn't have accomplished what you have done. I've met very many good Filipino nurses and I'm sure you can do very well here too.

I did say in my post that there is a demand for nurses and you can do well. Just remember that unlike what you may have been told, the street is not paved with money or gold. You will work very hard for your rewards.

I don't want to sound bitter either. Personally I think nurses roll over and take whatever management dishes out too easily. You really make your own way.

The reason so many nurses work agency or travel is because they can then dictate what their schedules are and to some extent their pay. You only get trapped in the rut of everyday job politics if you allow it.

"The difference between being in a rut or a groove is the depth"

with apologies to the person who originally had that thought!

[traumahawk99]

you're just going to find out it's a very different animal in the u.s. .... in so many ways. talk to other filipino nurses. i've worked with many filipinos who agree the conditions here are unbearable at times.. and they too want off the floor.

nursing is tough. i've learned to maximize my $$ and minimize my hassle by working tele at night. lots of overtime available too, if you'll float all over the hospital and do med surge as well.

it's still miserable and high stress, yes.. but i figure i can do it another few years. will i be doing it in 5 years? i sure hope not!

[MikeyJ, RN]

Re: Filipino Nurses

I have spoken with some Filipino nurses at the hospital I do my clinicals at as well as do my nurse apprenticeship at (I don't have exact numbers, but I would bet that at least 65- 70% of the nurses at my hospital are of Filipino descent). A few of the nurses have compared the U.S. to the Phillipines, and although their live is 100X better here, in terms of finances and living conditions, they were amazed at the amount of paperwork involved with U.S. nursing.

There is a ridiculous amount of charting and paperwork that has to be done in the U.S. And most of the Filipino nurses at my hospital work on the worst units -- those units that are run-down, cannot keep U.S. grad nurses, and are stuck with patient loads up to 8 patients.

The floors that are "attractive" (both visually and in regards to technology and low patient loads) are staffed by U.S. grads (very few Filipino's). I work on the pediatric floor (very ideal environment -- nice floor, great staff, and they require patient loads be 6 or less) have no Filipino nurses.

My point is that from my limited expsoure, The Filipino nurses who are brought from the Phillipines to work as a nurse are thrown in those enviornments that are hard to staff and poor working conditions.

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

I left the bedside after a mere year as an LPN. I'm now in informatics and make more than the starting RN's up here.

I am pursuing my RN simply because I have all of the classes complete and now just need to pass the CPNE (Excelsior) and I want to do the RN/MSN in informatics.

I will return to the bedside only for an occasional shift in my current facility.

I was never treated as badly or worked as hard as I was as a floor nurse. I am a middle-aged woman who has managed people and projects and couldn't believe that if I sat for a moment the charge would decree that I was "slacking" and find something for me to do. I left every shift exhausted and started every shift dreading it.

While I never say never, I will try very hard not to return to the bedside.

[cjmjmom]

I agree with most of what is written on this thread but I cannot help but wonder WHEN IN THE WORLD ARE WE GOING TO TAKE OUR PROFESSIONS' DESTINY IN OUR OWN HANDS WHERE IT BELONGS! We have allowed everyone else to screw with us and we allowed it and then moan about it which gets us NOWHERE! We must stick together, yes we must even stick by those nurses we label lazy, as one profession and DEMAND better for ourselves and our patients. Our profession outnumbers EVERY SINGLE OTHER profession in this country. Our sheer numbers alone spells POWER. We cannot let nursing administrators or educators lead us...they have tried and look at the mess we allowed them to put us in. The day we are willing to take a stand TOGETHER as one profession will be the day our profession and healthcare delivery will change for the better in this country!

[RN1989]

The Filipino nurses who are brought from the Phillipines to work as a nurse are thrown in those enviornments that are hard to staff and poor working conditions.

Filipino nurses are an employers dream. They love having a nurse that can be controlled with threat of losing their job and being deported. Filipino nurses are only too happy to keep their mouths shut even when things on the floor are dangerous. Otherwise they would be sent back home in disgrace and be unable to send money home to their families.

The Phillipines are overcrowded and their biggest import/export business is nurses. Most of the Filipino nurses I have worked with told me that from day one, their families expected them to become nurses and emigrate to the US so that they could send money home. The stress on them to make good in the US is great and they will do nearly anything to get here and make good on their responsibilities. This includes perpetuating poor working conditions instead of standing up and fighting for what is right.

Although there are laws that are supposed to prevent employers from paying a lower wage to non-US citizens, we all know that a nurse from another country desperate for a job will take a job with any salary higher than what they would make at home. Why are nurses told they can't discuss salary???? Because employers don't want people to know the truth.

And yes, to all the Filipino nurses that have read this forum - you are being lied to. There are enough native US nurses licensed in this country to keep nearly every nursing job opportunity filled. We however do not live in the harsh conditions that you have in your country and thus many licensed nurses here refuse to continue to work in unsafe and unhealthy environments. Make no mistake, employers want Filipinos nurses. But that is only because US nurses aren't willing to put up with the crap that a Filipino nurse will.

[Kiren]

i have seen some of the statistics on the number of nurses in the u.s. however, i wonder how many of those nurses are actually able to work as nurses. i know several nurses who have retired or are disabled and still maintain their licensure. i know there are many able bodied nurses who have walked away from nursing but, how do you differentiate them from the 90 year old retiree who hasn't worked in 25 years?

[marie-francoise]

i have seen some of the statistics on the number of nurses in the u.s. however, i wonder how many of those nurses are actually able to work as nurses. i know several nurses who have retired or are disabled and still maintain their licensure. i know there are many able bodied nurses who have walked away from nursing but, how do you differentiate them from the 90 year old retiree who hasn't worked in 25 years?

you would probably have to look at number of active licenses.

[Kiren]

you would probably have to look at number of active licenses.

i am referring to nurses with active licenses. there are at least 10 nurses i can think of off the top of my head who are either too old or too sick to hold a job who have active licenses in my state. all they have to do is pay their renewal fee and they are considered active.

[marie-francoise]

i am referring to nurses with active licenses. there are at least 10 nurses i can think of off the top of my head who are either too old or too sick to hold a job who have active licenses in my state. all they have to do is pay their renewal fee and they are considered active.

then, yes, the statistics would be more informative if they were adjusted for able-bodiedness - and perhaps also for age, age of kids, and number of kids.

[oneproudigorot, MSN, RN]

Isn't the ANA or any other american nurses' organization doing anything about those problems then? I believe that American nurses are more assertive and they can do something about those problems that they are faced with.

I do not think that Filipino nurses keep quiet all the time. Several Filipino nurses walked out of their work in NY. I've a cousin working in Cali and she's good at refusing unbearable working conditions. She's an OR nurse and a traveler. I met a Filipino nurse who came for a vacation and he was telling me about better working conditions and how nurses are working indepently back there. He's in the ICU.

We're able to persevere the worst of conditions but not for a very long time. Maybe that's what makes us different.

Still, I'd like to try America and what it can offer me. I sound desperate and I am. I believe going to America is worth giving a try. If things don't turn out well then am glad to be working here in the Philippines or in some other country.

Maybe it is high time also for American nurses to live up to how foreign nurses see them - independent, assertive and almost good at anything. That's how highly we regard you.