Recruitment of Foreign Nurses to Alleviate the United States Nursing Shortage
Recruitment of Foreign Nurses to Alleviate the United States Nursing Shortage
Recruitment of Foreign Nurses to Alleviate the United States Nursing Shortage Since the 1950s, the United States has depended heavily on recruitment of foreign educated nurses (FEN’s) – or the updated term internationally educated nurses (IEN’s) — as a remedy to alleviate staffing shortages within American healthcare facilities. While this recruitment has made a significant difference in addressing these shortages, it has also raised significant concerns about the impact of this trend on the quality of nursing care and the implications for healthcare systems in America as well as in the countries from which these nurses have been recruited. Some of these concerns include the disparity of language competencies and various cultural differences among these nurses and the effect of these issues on the quality of health care delivery; the brain-drain that results from the depletion of highly educated nurses from developing countries; and the disincentive to U.S. health care professionals and public policy experts to create programs and financial incentives to attract more U.S. nationals into the nursing profession. These and other issues have led to serious concern about the efficacy of the continued recruitment of FEN’s and IEN’s as their recruitment is inadequate as a long term solution to America’s nursing shortage and must be seen as such so that more effective long term strategies can be identified and implemented. Slote (2011) stated “the reliance on foreign nurses is symptomatic of ineffective policies in industrialized countries such as the United States and represents the failure of national and international policies to alleviate the perpetual worldwide nursing shortage” (p. 179).
Many American and international health care experts have done extensive research on the history of recruitment of foreign nurses into the U. S. healthcare system as well as the
Recruitment of Foreign Nurses to Alleviate the United States Nursing Shortage Since the 1950s, the United States has depended heavily on recruitment of foreign educated nurses (FEN’s) – or the updated term internationally educated nurses (IEN’s) — as a remedy to alleviate staffing shortages within American healthcare facilities. While this recruitment has made a significant difference in addressing these shortages, it has also raised significant concerns about the impact of this trend on the quality of nursing care and the implications for healthcare systems in America as well as in the countries from which these nurses have been recruited. Some of these concerns include the disparity of language competencies and various cultural differences among these nurses and the effect of these issues on the quality of health care delivery; the brain-drain that results from the depletion of highly educated nurses from developing countries; and the disincentive to U.S. health care professionals and public policy experts to create programs and financial incentives to attract more U.S. nationals into the nursing profession. These and other issues have led to serious concern about the efficacy of the continued recruitment of FEN’s and IEN’s as their recruitment is inadequate as a long term solution to America’s nursing shortage and must be seen as such so that more effective long term strategies can be identified and implemented. Slote (2011) stated “the reliance on foreign nurses is symptomatic of ineffective policies in industrialized countries such as the United States and represents the failure of national and international policies to alleviate the perpetual worldwide nursing shortage” (p. 179).
Many American and international health care experts have done extensive research on the history of recruitment of foreign nurses into the U. S. healthcare system as well as the
References: American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2011). Nursing Shortage Fact Sheet. Retrieved from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/media-relations/fact-sheets/nursing-shortage Bieski, T. (2007). Foreign-educated nurses: an overview of migration and credentialing issues. Nursing Economic$. 25(1), 20. Retrieved from http://content.ebscohost.com.mutex.gmu.edu/pdf19_22/pdf/2007/22R/01Jan07/24599179.pdf?T=P&P=AN&K=2009536448&S=R&D=rzh&EbscoContent=dGJyMNLr40SeprY4zOX0OLCmr0mep7NSrqi4SLGWxWXS&ContentCustomer=dGJyMPGusUqzp7BLuePfgeyx44Dn6QAA Bola, T., Driggers, K., Dunlap, C., & Ebersole, M. (2003). Foreign-educated nurses: strangers in a strange land?. Nursing Management. 34(7), 39-42. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.mutex.gmu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=8a587112-8e82-4332-b8a7-3920cfc97e33%40sessionmgr115&vid=1&hid=119 Davis, C., & Nichols, B. (2002). Foreign-educated nurses and the changing U.S. nursing workforce. Nursing Administration Quarterly. 26(2), 43-51. Retrieved from http://ehis.ebscohost.com.mutex.gmu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=6c25e63e-f3a0-44fb-b64e-acb72da68dcb%40sessionmgr14&vid=1&hid=22 O’Connor, R. (2002). Situations vacant: US nursing opportunities. Nursing Standard, 16(51), 16-17. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Ortin, E. (1990). The brain drain as viewed by an exporting country. International Nursing Review, 37(5), 340-344. Retrieved from http://content.ebscohost.com.mutex.gmu.edu/pdf13_15/pdf/1990/81B/01Sep90/13009748.pdf?T=P&P=AN&K=1991117924&S=R&D=rzh&EbscoContent=dGJyMMTo50SeprA4wtvhOLCmr0mep7JSs6%2B4Sa%2BWxWXS&ContentCustomer=dGJyMPGusUqzp7BLuePfgeyx44Dn6QAA Pittman, P. M., Folsom, A. J., Bass, E. (2010). U.S. –Based recruitment of foreign-educated nurses: implications of an emerging industry. American Journal of Nursing. 110(6), 38-48. doi:10.1097/01.NAJ.0000377689.49232.06 Slote, R. J. (2011). Pulling the Plug on Brain-Drain: Understanding International Migration of Nurses. MEDSURG Nursing, 20(4), 179-186. Retrieved from http://content.ebscohost.com.mutex.gmu.edu/pdf25_26/pdf/2011/4DQ/01Jul11/64468897.pdf?T=P&P=AN&K=2011244885&S=R&D=rzh&EbscoContent=dGJyMMTo50SeprA4wtvhOLCmr0mep7NSrqu4TLeWxWXS&ContentCustomer=dGJyMPGusUqzp7BLuePfgeyx44Dn6QAA Sparacio, D. (2005). Winged migration: international nurse recruitment -- friend or foe to the nursing crisis?. Journal Of Nursing Law, 10(2), 97-114. Retrieved from http://content.ebscohost.com.mutex.gmu.edu/pdf17_20/pdf/2005/GM1/01Jun05/18352101.pdf?T=P&P=AN&K=2009045256&S=R&D=rzh&EbscoContent=dGJyMMTo50SeprA4wtvhOLCmr0mep7NSrq24SLeWxWXS&ContentCustomer=dGJyMPGusUqzp7BLuePfgeyx44Dn6QAA Xu, Y. (2003). Are Chinese nurses a viable source to relieve the U.S. nurse shortage?. Nursing Economics$. 21(6), 269. Retrieved from http://content.ebscohost.com.mutex.gmu.edu/pdf10/pdf/2003/22R/01Nov03/12322489.pdf?T=P&P=AN&K=2004021251&S=R&D=rzh&EbscoContent=dGJyMMTo50SeprA4wtvhOLCmr0mep7NSr6a4TLaWxWXS&ContentCustomer=dGJyMPGusUqzp7BLuePfgeyx44Dn6QAA