Global movement of nurses

I have seen several articles discussing how immigration may help with the staffing shortages in long term care industry. Better pay and training with decent working conditions would help too.  While hospitals and staffing agencies say there is a shortage of workers, what nurses, unions, and researchers argue is that, rather, there’s a shortage of good nursing jobs.

‘Research published in April by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing and the National Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers found that 100,000 nurses had left the profession in the past two years, and an additional 800,000 nurses intend to leave by 2027, citing stress and burnout.”

AMN Healthcare, a staffing agency and one of America’s largest international recruiters, said the number of foreign nurses it placed in US hospitals has increased by 300% since the start of the pandemic. As of 2021, according to the Migration Policy Institute, nearly 2.8 million healthcare workers in the US are foreign born, more than 18% of the total healthcare workforce.  The value proposition of international nurses—resilient, uncomplaining, with higher levels of experience, and a lower likelihood of quitting—makes them attractive to healthcare providers.

A recent study found that states with higher shares of immigrant CNAs had more direct care staff hours per resident day and better overall nursing home quality performance.