Number of Pinoy nurses seeking US jobs drops by 33%

MANILA, Philippines – The number of Filipino nurses seeking employment in the United States continues to drop dramatically, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) reported yesterday.

TUCP secretary-general and former senator Ernesto Herrera said Filipinos who sought jobs in the US fell by one-third in the first semester of the year.

“Only 5,553 Filipino nurses took the NCLEX for the first time from January to June, down 2,719 or 33 percent from 8,272 in the same period of 2009,” Herrera disclosed.

The NCLEX refers to the licensure examination administered by the US National Council of State Boards of Nursing Inc.

Herrera said the number of Filipino nurses taking the NCLEX for the first time is a reliable indicator as to how many of them are trying to enter the profession in the US.

Manila-based labor recruitment agencies previously reported that more Filipino nurses are now leaving for the United Kingdom than those going to the US.

“Filipino nurses and other highly skilled professionals will go to foreign labor markets where it is easier for them to enter and work, and where they will get the best reward in terms of pay and other benefits,” Herrera pointed out.

But Herrera said there is no question that in absolute terms, more Filipino nurses are still seeking employment in the US than elsewhere.

He said many Filipino nurses still favor America simply because they already have family members there ready to support them.

The Philippines is still America’s biggest supplier of foreign nurses, followed by India, South Korea, Canada and Puerto Rico, he added.

A total of 15,382 Filipino nurses took the NCLEX for the first time in 2009, down by 5,364 or 26 percent from 20,746 in 2008.

In 2007, a total of 21,499 Filipino nurses took the NCLEX for the first time, up by 6,328 or 42 percent from 15,171 in 2006.

The 2006 figures were up 65 percent or 5,990 compared to the 9,181 Filipino nurses that took the NCLEX for the first time in 2005.–