The International Nursing Shortage; or "Headhunting" Nurses from the Philippines

Here's an article from August 10th in the Asian Pacific Post details how apparently one of the greatest exports of the Phillipines is not just pineapples, electronics, textiles, and baskets, but . . . nurses!

In a Nursing Shortage! Imagine that!

Canadian hospitals are headhunting Filipino nurses working in Ireland, with offers of fast-track work visas, better wages and even low-interest-rate car loans. There are more than 10,000 foreign-born nurses working in Irish hospitals — a huge proportion of whom are Filipino nationals, Dublin media reported.

Yet the "headhunting" doesn't stop from Irish hospitals poaching Filippino nurses; Canadian hospitals poach from Ireland:

Filipino Overseas Ireland Ltd, which was on a recent recruitment drive, is hoping to attract 250 staff nurses for a hospital in Alberta. Quoting sources in the Irish-Filipino community, a hundred nurses based in Irish hospitals signed up to work in Canada at a recent recruitment fair. The steady exodus has led to the magazine Filipino Forum running a lead feature titled “Goodbye Ireland.”

To date, very few Filipino nurses have been awarded citizenship in Ireland, even though many came here almost seven years ago. “Very few have long-term residency, which is also only temporary. Even the first batch [of nurses] still haven’t got citizenship,” points out Michael Ancheta of Filipino Forum.

In stark contrast, the Canadian government allows brothers, sisters and parents to emigrate to Canada after four years. Other incentives include affordable subsidised housing grants as well as cheap car loans, local media said.

It also appears the Nursing Shortage is not solely an American phenomena:

In Alberta hospitals right now, roughly 20 per cent of Alberta’s 26,000 registered nurses are in a position to retire, creating a scenario for a serious shortage of nurses. There’s also a new provision that allows nurses considering retirement to work part time and still get full contributions to their pensions.

The nurse crunch is also being faced elsewhere in Canada. According to a 2004-05 government health report, there are 1,260 nurses per 100,000 people in Manitoba, 1,172 nurses per 100,000 in Saskatchewan, 1,020 nurses per 100,000 in Alberta and 823 per 100,000 in B.C. All across Canada, there’s 1,004 nurses per 100,000.

The article goes on to note that while Canadian employers benefit from the training and excellent english skills of Philippino nurses they recruit, such things as the Irish Green Card system and their children being treated as foreign students has made Ireland a nice place to visit, but they wouldn't want to live there.

“But it’s not just Filipino nurses who are leaving. In the past eight years, about 12,000 Irish nurses have left for places like Canada.”

Bonus!!!

Hat Tip to Interested Participant, who also notes:

So, nurses leave the Philippines for a better deal in Ireland. Then, nurses start leaving Ireland for a better deal in Canada. What's next? I don't know but it's worth mentioning that nurses get permanent residency visas upon arrival in the U.S.

That's true because after the Spanish-American war in 1898 the Philippines became an American possession (along with Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Guam.) Anyone who can prove their parents (or grandparents) were American citizens can almost automatically receive permanent residency in America pending citizenship application; which means practically the entire archipelago of the Philippines is eligible.

One of my wife's best friends is a staff nurse in Indiana -- and a Philippino. Almost all the charge and half the staff nurses I worked with at one hospital here are Philippino. They are especially in demand in South Texas for their bilingual abilities with the Hispanic population here.

The thing I'm seeing a lot more of lately? Nurses from Kenya. What's that about, other than there aren't enough nurses to go around in the USA?

~~JD~~