Nurses should be recruited from foreign countries to ease our demand for nurses
Similar to the economics of resources, the supply of nurses have been challenged with the increasing amount of demand. In reality, the number of people studying and training to become nurses are not enough to fulfil the supply, which is why the entry of foreign nurses is significant. In addition, the acceptance of these foreign-born nurses is based on the fact of cultural diversity as present in the country today.
The demand for nurses further increase through time with more and more people requiring health and medical care; in addition to this, the growing ageing population can be also regarded as a segment where the demand further increases. Obermeyer (2005) mentioned that the United States would eventually have a shortage of nurses in the coming years, especially by 2020 when it was projected that the shortage would reach one million. At present, a significant portion of the nurses and physicians in the United States are foreign born, at 12% and 20% respectively (Obermeyer, 2005). The current need to diversify the supply of nurses is not just for the purpose of making sure that the supply meets demand, but also, there is the need to reflect certain social realities, especially when it comes to growing multiculturalism and practices that cater specifically to the needs of the patients of different backgrounds and values.
The need to recruit nurses from foreign countries can then be cited to have the following benefits: they will fill in the shortages and the demand, and these foreign-born nurses will be also able to attend to patients who are also foreign-born or have foreign backgrounds. This can bring forth a flexible and accessible environment for any health institution. This is in acknowledgement of the growing diversity in the country. In addition, they can also possess exceptional skills, such as Asian nurses being cited to have competitive clinical skills (Obermeyer, 2005). However, as Obermeyer also mentioned, these foreign-born nurses will potentially face a number of challenges mainly due to the fact they are going to be a part of the society’s “minority”. This is further supported by Apesoa-Verano and Verano (2004) in which the authors bring up challenges in transnational recruitment, citizenship, assimilation, and being able to meet standards of practice. In any case, as can be seen in the established philosophies of the practice, this can be seen to also change as the environment and the society continue to change and that the demands further diversify; the presence of these foreign nurses will be able to deliver the art and sciences needed for an overall competitiveness of the industry and the profession in the country.
Nurses are tasked with a number of functions concerning the provision of care and the delivery of well-being and medical and health support to the patients and their needs; these need range from their physical, mental and spiritual health, all of which are addressed for the purpose of recovery and restoration of health. Based on this, it can be observed that the nursing profession, through time, has become more diversified. This can be seen as manifestations of nursing philosophies in which Mitchell (2005) demonstrated that the practice is not restricted, and that the emergence of various disciplines and “schools” has given way to certain frameworks of practice. Examples are debates between culture-bound and timeless principles, and order and stability versus pattern and change. From this, it can be said that nursing is an evolving profession, and certain changes can then be defined according to the dynamics and the needs of the society (Haylock, 2005) which include the economics of labor and cultural make up.
Annotated References
Apesoa-Verano, E. & Verano, C. 2004. Nurses and Labor Activism in the United States: The Role of Class, Gender, and Ideology. Social Justice, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 77+.
– This peer-reviewed journal article addresses activism among nurses in the United States and addresses the issues of foreign-born/immigrant nurses, their benefits and the challenges they face as they transfer their practice in the U.S.
Haylock, P. (2005). So You Want to be a Nurse. In J. Daly, S. Speedy, D.
Jackson, V. Lambert & C. Lambert (Eds.) Professional Nursing: Concepts, Issues, and Challenges. New York: Springer.
– Discusses the demands of the profession, especially with respect to the current demands of the society.
Mitchell, G. (2005). Nursing, Philosophy and Knowledge: a Commitment to Know
Oneself and Others. In J. Daly, S. Speedy, D. Jackson, V. Lambert & C. Lambert (Eds.) Professional Nursing: Concepts, Issues, and Challenges. New York: Springer.
– This chapter in a book addresses nursing as based on relationships between the nurse and the people he or she encounters, such as people from different backgrounds, cultures, and even those with different belief systems which is apparent in their health and medical practices.
Obermeyer, M. (2005, Oct. 24). Foreign nurses in the U.S.A.: what are the
challenges? Buzzle. Retrieved 11 September 2008 from http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/10-22-2005-79534.asp
– This website article discusses the state of the foreign nurses in the US, especially the benefits of having them fulfill the demand.