Fewer Filipino Nurses Seeking U.S. Jobs

MANILA, Philippines - Filipino nurses are now shying away from the United States because of the prevailing financial crisis there, reports the Philippine Star. Fewer Filipino nurses sought employment in the United States in the first half of the year as the country sank into recession, according to the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP).

TUCP secretary-general and former senator Ernesto Herrera said the number of Filipino nurses aspiring to work in the United States plunged by 16 percent compared to the first semester of 2008. “The deepening recession in America has clearly diminished the desire of Filipino nurses to seek employment there,” Herrera pointed out.

He said that a total of 8,272 Filipino nurses took the U.S. National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) for the first time (non-repeaters) from January to June, 1,565 fewer compared to the 9,837 who took the test in the same six-month period in 2008. A total of 20,746 Filipino nurses took the NCLEX for the first time for the whole year of 2008, and Herrera said the number was lower by 3.5 percent compared to the 21,299 Filipino nurses that took the test for the first time in 2007. Filipino nurses accounted for 37 percent of the 22,500 foreign-educated nurses who took the NCLEX for the first time in the first semester.