A word of advice to US-bound Filipino nurses

By Alfredo G. Rosario
Manila Times

In many display ads appearing in the newspapers, we find enticing come-ons to lure Filipino nurses to work in the US. They say that the minimum salary is $3,000 a month on top of attractive fringe benefits, such as free airfare, free housing for three months and guaranteed overtime pay.

Many nurses who fell for these tantalizing ads and are now working in the US may have been disenchanted to find out the sad truth that their work conditions are entirely different from those promised in the ads.

I will not be surprised if nurses loudly complaining against their employers for lower pay and lower-category jobs were victims of recruiters responsible for the ad placements.

In my recent interview with three officials of the US-based Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools, I was told that no one can work as a full-time regular nurse in US hospitals with the corresponding full pay unless she has passed the National Council Licensure Examination given by the state where she is working.

John Ratigan, a member of the CGFNS team and immigration consultant, said the US law is clear on this point. So while a foreign nurse is waiting for her NCLEX credentials, she has to work in related odd jobs in the hospital with lower pay.

The misunderstanding and conflict between worker and employer are caused by recruiters who make money hand over fist by charging US hospitals from $5,000 to $20,000 per nurse they recruit. They are responsible for the attractive ads that do not really reflect the true salary and working conditions of their recruits.

How will the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, which processes the contract papers of nurses recruited for the US, deal or cope with this problem? The contract embodies the conditions in the ads but which cannot be implemented by a US hospital simply because a nurse does not possess an NCLEX eligibility.

In all probability, recruited Filipino nurses have to abide by the initial working arrangements imposed by their employer until they shall have passed an NCLEX test. Then they can work for their green cards and eventually their US citizenship.

That is the fruit of perseverance.

Many Filipinos who are now immigrants and US citizens and living comfortable lives initially suffered indignities while starting to work. That is the reason Filipino nurses and other workers are willing to pay enormous amounts to recruiters and accept any kind of work because of the chance to stay permanently in the US.

I do not begrudge them. My point in writing this column is to disabuse the minds of Filipino nurses wishing to work in the US that they can enjoy the full benefits and incentives promised in some newspaper ads unless and until they have achieved an NCLEX eligibility.

But before they apply for a US job, they must pass the qualifying CGFNS examination to enable them to acquire a Visa-Screen certificate that is needed by the US Embassy and the POEA in the processing of their work papers.

The CGFNS held its periodic examination last month in Manila and Cebu City. Another test will be held this November. Watch out for it.