NurseWeek: Editor's Note

Join the discussion on this topic in NurseWeek Forums

Editor's Note

It takes an RN village
Investment in nursing education a smarter alternative to foreign recruitment
Carol Bradley, MSN, RN, California Editor
June 18, 2001

Last week, I flew to Copenhagen, Denmark, for the 22nd Quadrennial Congress of the International Council of Nurses (June 10-15). As I prepared for the trip, I looked forward once again to being in the company of the universe of nursing from across all cultures and continents. Far less pleasantly, however, I also expected to be challenged by my nurse colleagues from other countries on the rampant foreign nurse recruitment being conducted by the U.S. health care system.

The increasingly aggressive recruitment of registered nurses from often less-fortunate countries is a glaring example that speaks volumes about the character of our health care system, as well as that of our American nursing community. I am pleased to know of several health care systems that already have chosen not to take this path.

In case you haven’t kept up with the international newswires, the World Health Organization or the International Council of Nurses, the shortage of well-educated, skilled registered nurses is a global problem. This is not just about us. It is a global public health crisis that some believe is being exacerbated by the selfish actions of the U.S. health care system.

Already, experts are beginning to study the impact of the global nursing shortage on world health status. Eventually, I suspect that we can expect to bear some of the blame where RNs have been siphoned off to meet the workforce needs in the United States.

Although I understand why foreign recruitment is being pursued, we need to stop and think about what we are doing. Foreign nurse recruitment does nothing to build our national nursing education resources, and it is a costly proposition with often uncertain outcomes.

If you think that our homegrown new grads need support and "investment," wait until you try importing nurses from foreign countries. It is hardly as simple as providing four weeks of orientation and putting them to work. Unfortunately, most organizations do not understand the unique needs of these "imported" nurses.

At the risk of offending some of my colleagues who are engaged in foreign nurse recruitment, I feel it is time for American nursing to raise its voice against active foreign recruitment of registered nurses. You and I know that it will not solve our shortage; it only will disguise the real problem for the short term.

Given the vast resources within the United States and the status of our health care delivery system, it is time to get serious about investing in the nursing educational infrastructure within our own country.

So let’s do it.

Let me be clear that my opposition to foreign recruitment is not based on any cultural or ethnic bias. Promoting diversity is an ever-important value that should receive universal support within the profession.

However, American health care and its nursing leadership should build our diversity from the resources within our country, and invest in the nursing educational pipeline.

Like Hillary Rodham Clinton’s best-selling book It Takes A Village, which focused on the role of the community in raising healthy, successful children, I have come to conclude that it is much the same in nursing. It will take the entire "village" to address the nursing shortage. Our village is broad and diverse, and is poised and ready to act.

However, our choices in this crisis provide clear evidence of our character and our values. Let’s just say no, thank you, but we’ll do it ourselves.

What do you think?
Email us at editor@nurseweek.com