“With an aging U.S.population, health care demand is growing at an unprecedented pace . . . Thenumber of states receiving a grade of “D” or “F” for their RN shortage ratiowill increase from 5 in 2009 to 30 by 2030, for a total national deficit of918,232 RN jobs. There will be significant RN workforce shortages throughoutthe country in 2030; thewestern region will have the largest shortage ratio of 389 RN jobs per100,000.”
The situation is nobetter in other allied healthcare occupations. According to the Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook by2022, employment of Physical Therapists is expected to skyrocket by 36percent. The same is true ofOccupational Therapists (29 percent), Pharmacists (14 percent), and SpeechLanguage Pathologists (19 percent).
Contrary to somepublic perception, International Healthcare Professionals are notundereducated. Prior to issuance of avisa, the International Healthcare Professional’s education, training, pastlicenses, and experience must be verified and proved that it is authentic andcomparable to an American healthcare worker of the same type. InternationalHealthcare Professionals must pass English fluency exams prior to visaissuance.
InternationalHealthcare Professionals are also not underpaid. Because of strict USCIS and DOL wage requirements,International Healthcare Professionals must be paid the greater of prevailingand actual wages. InternationalHealthcare Professionals cannot have their hours reduced. The employer must pay the guaranteed minimumhours unless the International Healthcare Professional is unavailable for workbecause of non-work related factors, such as the worker’s own voluntary requestfor time off, or in other circumstances where the worker is unable to work.
The PERM laborcertification process guarantees that there are no US workers ready, willing,and able of performing the position before any International HealthcareProfessional is granted an immigrant visa. Employers cannot makeInternational Healthcare Professionals sign onerous contracts, including those containpenalty clauses.
Recent studies arepointing to the high quality of care provided by International HealthcareProfessionals and the added value that they bring to the US healthcare industry. Patricia Cortes, Assistant Professor,Markets, Public Policy and Law, Boston University, authored a 2012 study, RelativeQuality Of Foreign Nurses In The United States.
She found that,
“foreign nurses, in particular Filipinos, tendto work in more demanding settings and maintain less desirable schedules – theyare more likely to work in hospitals, work full-time, and do shift work, ascompared to their native counterparts.
Natives are more likely to work part-timeand choose jobs with standard schedules – for example, they tend to work in physicians’offices and schools, etc. In terms of educational background, the majority offoreign nurses have at least a bachelor’s degree, whereas a larger fraction ofnatives have an associate degree. A more educated nurse workforce (as measuredby the share of nurses in a hospital holding a bachelor’s degree) has beenassociated with better patient outcomes and higher nurse productivity.”
