There has been much debate over the past several years regarding the current nursing shortage. The statistics are grim: the current shortage is projected to double to around 12% by 2010 and to quadruple to 20% by 2015. By 2020, it is expected that the shortage will amount to 800,000 nurses.
One of the suggested solutions to the nursing shortage crisis has been to hire foreign nurses to fill the void. In theory, this makes perfect sense - they need the work and we need the nurses. Foreign nurses often receive a free education in their country of origin and are willing to work for less wages than domestically trained nurses. Why is this a problem?
The law of supply and demand is the basic underpinning of economic theory. When there is a shortage of labor in a market economy, wages increase as employers compete with one another to attract workers. If the shortage persists, wages and other compensations rise until enough workers are attracted by the higher wages and compensation; at this point, equilibrium is reached and supply and demand is balanced.
The practice of hiring foreign nurses to address the crisis may be beneficial in the short term but may worsen the situation in the long term. Foreign nurses willing to work for less pay and benefits falsely lower wages below what they would be in a fair market. Driving down nursing wages will result in nurses leaving the profession to work in other occupations.
In eight National Sample Surveys of the Registered Nurse Population (NSSRN) conducted between 1977 and 2004, a disturbing trend emerged: “According to the 2004 survey, there were an estimated 2,909,467 registered nurses in the United States as of March 2004. Of these, 16.8%, or 489,790, were not employed in nursing. Of those RN’s who were not employed in nursing, many were retired and others had left for family reasons. However, an estimated 209,140 to 241,563 left “for personal career reasons…or reasons connected to the workplace”*.
The NSSRN found that there were several reasons why these nurses chose to leave nursing. Some found that their current position was more rewarding. Others cited better wages, better hours, and concerns about their personal safety as reasons for leaving nursing.
Hiring foreign nurses to address the nursing shortage is not likely to fix the problem. Eventually, foreign nurses will leave nursing for the same reasons that many nurses now leave the profession: low wages, long working hours, and concerns about their personal safety as well as dissatisfaction with working conditions. In the meantime, hiring foreign nurses to fill the gap will only drive down wages and force more domestic nurses out of the profession.
The cure for the nursing shortage may be to address the issues that are leading to job dissatisfaction and to make nursing, as a profession, more attractive to those contemplating nursing as a career.
*Elgie, R. “Politics, Economics, and Nursing Shortages: A Critical Look at United States Government Policies.” Nurs Econ. 2007;25(5):285-292.
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but caring for people is not for money for me, it is my own desire and i love to serve people……….
From Nurse Job, “but caring for people is not for money for me, it is my own desire and I love to serve people….”
That is why I went into the nursing profession as well, and why I am still in it.
But there is nothing wrong with wanting to be recognized for what you do, and the sacrifices you make, in the form of adequate compensation. In the past 15 years, I have sacrificed my family for other people so many times…especially the last few years when nurses wanting to work in our hospital have been scarce. My kids dislike my job and have asked me in the past why I can’t have a “real” job like other mommies (meaning 9-5, no weekends, no holidays). This breaks my heart sometimes.
Yes, I love my job and my patients, but I don’t feel one bit guilty about the money I make either….
Thanks for your comment, dialogue makes the world go round!
Jennifer
Jennifer, how would you feel if you were to learn that in order to hire foreign registered nurses that medical facilities were required to pay them at the very minimum the median range for that area? The problem with your argument is the assumption that foreign nurses leave the profession as well. This is largely untrue. The goal of the overwhelming majority of the nurses I’ve worked with has been to make a better life for themselves and their families, and to send money home. They train to become nurses with the intention of going overseas, whether it be to the US, the UK, Australia, or one of numerous Middle East countries. The foreign currency they earn is a huge part of the Philippino banking system and helps stabilize their institutions.
The fact is that hospitals are dangerously understaffed, and that this trend shows no sign of slowing. The politics are unimportant to a critically ill person who needs nurses who have time to treat him. They just need someone qualified to be there to do their job. As it stands, most hospitals and nursing homes cannot provide the level of care that people expect because of a lack of staff.
As the grandson of immigrants, my ancestors came to this country to fill a need for workers. This is the story of most immigrants in the United States, because the only non-immigrants are American Indians.
Why can’t we get the healthcare we need? Our government has visas available for technologists, for fashion models, even for apple pickers. Why can’t they make visas available for a controlled amount of nurses who can provide relief to facilities that are suffering?
Brian Grutman, formerly of Pilot Enterprises.