U.S. Trade In: E. R. Nurses and Health Professionals

U.S. Trade In: E. R. Nurses and HealthProfessionalsThere are several hospitals in the United Statesthat are experiencing immense shortages ofregistered nurses, emergency nurses and otherhealth care professionals. There isapproximately a whooping 80 to 85 percent ofAmerican hospitals mention shortage while 15percent expresses concern about the severeshortage they are experiencing.According to the United States Department of

Health and Human Services, United States willneed 2.8 million nurses. This estimated demandwill be a million more than the projected supplyof nurses. U.S. is not quickly replacing nursesat the same phase they are leaving the profession.Currently, the average age of nurses working inAmerica is 45 years old. By year 2010, andestimated 40 percent of all the workingregistered nurses will be more than 50 years old.Between 2010 and 2020, the largest group ofregistered nurses in the United States laborforce will be between 50 to 60 years old. By thistime, the nursing shortage would be exceeding 36percent.What 抯 happening to United Case is not anisolated case. Several countries are alreadyreporting similar problem. In Ontario, Canada(Toronto Star) lost 14,000 of its 81,000 nursesdue to retirement last 2004. While as early asDecember 2000, the World Health Organization

already reported that Poland was graduating morethan 10,000 nurses annually. But the figuredropped to 3,000. In Chile, out of 18,000 nursesin the country, only 8,000 are working in thefield.So what are the steps being done by the UnitedStates government to address this problem?In April 2008 a bill was proposed in the UnitedStates House of Representatives by CongressmanRobert Wexler from Florida and co-sponsored byRepresentative James Sensenbrenner (R-WI).This bill is called F.R. 5924 of The EmergencyNursing Supply Relief Act. As of the day, thisbill has currently 11 co-sponsors.Basically, this bill will allow additional visasto be set- aside for foreign trained nurses andphysical therapists. The H.R. 5924 would save20,000 employment based visas in each of the nextthree years for foreign trained registered nurses

and physical therapists.This bill will also provide funds to help U.S.nursing schools expand the domestic supply ofnurses by coming from the $1,500 fee for thosewho would be applying for the visa. This wouldalso establish a three-year pilot program aimedin keeping U.S. nurses in the workforce.Immigrant visa applicants will need to attestthat they do not owe their country of residencea financial obligation that was incurred fortheir education so that they would remain in thatcountry. Both the American Hospitals Association(AHA) and the American Society for HealthcareHuman Resources Administration support expressedtheir support for the bill.Due to visa retrogression, a lot of foreignprofessionals who are interested in working inthe United States are turned down. The U.S.government makes only a certain number of

immigrant visas (green card) available each yearand these are allocated among the variousimmigrant visa categories.Recently, there are more immigrants approved foremployment-based immigrant visas and has run outof visa numbers causing temporary backlog orretrogression. The U.S. has a waiting list foremployment-based visas for nurses, and its nurseeducation programs turned away more than 150,000qualified applicants last year due to lack offaculty and clinical space.With the H.R 5924., it aims that the nursingshortages will be resolved. With this bill, thevisa retrogression could be lift for nurses andphysical therapists who have applied prior toSeptember 30, 2011. Hopefully, we 抣 l see moretherapists, nurses, E.R. attendants and nurses,and other health professionals taking care of thenation.