The Benefits Of International Registered Nurses On Hospitals And Healthcare Organizations

In a world where migration from one country to another for employment is becoming more common, perhaps one of the most pressing issues in the United States continues to be how to address the growing nursing shortage? More than 1 million additional Registered Nurses will be needed by 2030 to support the growing demand on healthcare resources and the aging population in America.

The post-pandemic demand for Registered Nurses in the USA has grown for many reasons. This is due to domestic limitations within academic institutions to support the increase of Bachelor of Science in Nursing student intake (e.g. due to a faculty shortage) and a loss within the current nursing workforce to retirement, burnout, and turnover. Since the pandemic started turnover has increased by 3% to 19% for hospitals in the United States. It is expected that as the nursing shortage continues to grow, hospitals in the United States will need to increasingly look at international Registered Nurse recruitment as a long-term, feasible staffing solution to prevent a staffing crisis.

Hospitals across the USA must consider the following:

• The economic costs and impacts of losing nurses to turnover or retirement (Approximately $40,000 per bedside hospital nurse and $4-6.5 million annually per hospital)

• The median age of retirement for Registered Nurses is 52 years of age in the United States with a significant portion of nurses expected to retire over the next 15 years

• The economic benefit and stability of hiring international Registered Nurses to ensure stable and safe staffing

• The majority of international Registered Nurses working in the United States are permanent residents or citizens, demonstrating a long-lasting contribution to the healthcare delivery in America

• The cultural benefit of having a diverse workforce, caring for a diverse patient population

• Cost savings of hiring experienced nurses versus having to educate and train less experienced nurses for an extended period of time

• The majority of international Registered Nurses working in the United, immigrated from the Philippines, Canada, the United Kingdom, and India

• Although international mechanisms provide guidance on how recruitment should work, US immigration law and process will impact the ability to deploy migrating nurses in the United States

• Well supported and staffed hospitals were proven to have improved patient care outcomes

• Poorly staffed hospitals are proven to have higher rates of job dissatisfaction, exhaustion, and poor quality of patient care

• 8-13% of hospitals nursing staff are international Registered Nurses

• Empirical evidence demonstrates that international Registered Nurses working in the United States are not associated with poorer nurse outcomes, poorer quality of care, or more adverse patient outcomes.

The benefits and contributions of international Registered Nurses in the United States are clear. International Registered Nurses provide a high standard of quality patient care and economic stability for hospitals and healthcare organizations. As more Registered Nurses enter retirement or leave the profession, the demand continue to quickly rise and part of the solution looking outside of our borders in the United States.

References:

International Nurse Recruitment Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic: Considerations for the Nursing Workforce Leader. Franklin A. Shaffer EdD, RN, FAAN, FFNMRCSI, Mukul Bakhshi JD, Kaley Cook MS and Thomas D. Álvarez MS. Nurse Leader, 2022-04-01, Volume 20, Issue 2, Pages 161-167

Foreign-Educated Nurses: Effects on Nurse, Quality of Care, and Patient-Safety-Indicator Outcomes Donna Felber Neff PhD, RN, FNAP and Jeff Harman PhD. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 2013-04-01, Volume 4, Issue 1, Pages 19-24, Copyright © 2013 National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc.