Impact of Importation of Foreign Nurses on the Wage Rate of Domestic Nurses - Admission/Application Essay Example

Impact of Importation of Foreign Nurses on the Wage Rate of Domestic Nurses Admission/Application Essay Date of Submission The worldwide importation of nurses began to rise as the governments of wealthy nations increased their effort to look for new reserves of skilled, low-cost health care providers. In fact, numerous governments today openly try to reallocate and globalizing nursing jobs. At present, the worldwide importation of nurses is thriving and new importing countries are surfacing, making the trend all the more worldwide (Huston, 2013, p. 69). Finland, Ireland, and other countries in Europe, which are formerly source countries, import nurses nowadays from other nations. Numerous countries seek to join the market of exporting trained nurses, a business usually led by the Philippines, but simultaneously their own health care institution are by now experiencing serious shortages of health care providers (Freeman et al., 2012, p. 1178). In fact, in 2009, Hawkes and associates project that India is about to suffer a considerable loss in its nursing workforce due to extensive importation of nurses by rich countries (Connell, 2010, p. 120). A chain mechanism in the importation of qualified nurses clearly shows how social inequalities influence prospects for health care professionals. Imported nurses from wealthy countries, although they are affected as well by push factors like wage differentials, unemployment, and so on, are still given preferential treatment over imported nurses from underdeveloped or developing countries (Connell, 2010, pp. 120-21). Hence, this topic becomes ever more important for nurses, both foreign and domestic, because it affects one of the most important aspects of their profession--- wage. Pros and Cons of the Immigration of Nurses Growing concern about the growth in importation of nurses is primarily caused by the assumption that the activity reduces wage rates for domestic or native nurses. However, it has been reported that the availability or pools of health care providers is inelastic and that displacement calculations indicate that imported nurses do not enlarge the total size of the labor supply of nurses. In short, displacement findings show an inward change in the supply pattern of domestic nurses rather than only a shift within the labor supply pattern of domestic nurses. A number of studies have discovered that satisfaction obtained from being part of the labor force and quality of working conditions are essential variables influencing the work-related choices of current RNs, possibly all the more so than wage rates (Auerbach et al., 2012, p. 254). As far as imported nurses weaken the motivation of employers to enhance the quality of working conditions or strongly affects the strength of employee relationships in an organization, they could influence the number of domestic RNs deciding to join or stay in the nursing industry. According to numerous studies, although importing nurses could be a useful technique to deal with nursing shortages temporarily, it could have the unplanned or inadvertent outcome of cutting down considerably the permanent or long-term availability of domestic RNs (Auerbach et al., 2012, p. 254-55). If majority of the displacement outcomes happen due to the decrease in motivations to focus on enhancing working conditions or boosting the competence of nursing schools, a potential solution might be to integrate an immigration strategy that enables the recruitment of imported nurses to offer short-term reprieve with open circumstances obliging employers to allocate resources for the maintenance of domestic RNs (Pittman et al., 2012, p. 355). As far as imported RNs provide lower skill levels to the health care industry it would be logical to presume that their wage rates would be lower too. Yet, not like other professions, in order to acquire a job as a nurse, every applicant should first successfully accomplish a qualifying test (Pittman et al., 2012, p. 354). It has been reported in a number of studies that imported nurses have a lower rate of passing than native nurses. Moreover, discrimination could also be a factor. Due to the fact that nursing necessitates a huge extent of interaction with patients, consumer demands could force employers to separate or place imported nurses to areas where levels of wage are lower. Ultimately, imported RNs could have a lower reservation salary than domestic RNs since there could be more favorable options outside of the nursing profession for the domestic nurse over the imported ones (Pittman et al., 2012, p. 355). This is assumed to result in reduced total nursing wage levels instead of a wage differential between imported and native nurses. To calculate wage disparities between imported RNs and domestic ones, other quantifiable variables affecting wages like experience and educational level should be considered. If imported and domestic nurses are surpluses then an inflow of imported RNs boosts the availability of nurses and results in a lowering of the wage rates of domestic nurses (Auerbach et al., 2012, p. 256). On the other hand, those who support importation of nurses argue that it is not likely for the activity to adversely influence wage rates of native RNs. The main argument is that the labor supply of RNs is quite inelastic. Another argument is that huge impacts, which suggest that the overall number of RNs remains constant or drops, can simply be attributed to a change in the aggregate domestic labor supply curve and not only by a shift within the curve (Auerbach et al., 2012, p. 256-57). Leadership Strategy Hence the major issue today is how to prevent or alleviate these adverse effects of the importation of nurses on the wage rates and other working conditions of domestic RNs. Destination countries have to their improve training and education system. The goal must not essentially be self-reliance but must be to prevent becoming too much reliant on imported health care providers to satisfy or meet domestic requirements. Furthermore, destinations countries may implement a set of policies designed to optimally employ the current health labor force by espousing a more effective, productive combination of skills; boosting efficiency and motivation; improving relationships in the health care industry; and boosting rates of retention. Health care professionals, specifically nurse leaders, in destination or receiving countries must reinforce the retention rates of health care workers. Such strategies must place emphasis on areas that are most adversely affected by nurse migration. There are various ways to enhance the management of health care workers and boost their working conditions, such as developing or offering professional development programs and building up more valuable and effective equipment. Improving domestic education and training of health care professionals will also be needed. These strategies necessitate effective leadership and continuous financial investments. Conclusion Importation of foreign registered nurses has raised considerable worry in destination countries, as well as source countries. The leading worry of destination countries is the adverse effect of the influx of immigrant RNs on the wage rates of domestic nurses. Some studies have shown that importation of foreign RNs lower the wage rates of domestic RNs; yet these studies also found out that other variables, such as experience, educational level, and skills level, influence the wage rates of domestic RNs. Researchers have also stated that the importation of foreign RNs does not lead to wage differentials between imported nurses and domestic ones. Because of such concerns, leadership strategies and effective policies become ever more required. References Auerbach, D. et al. (2012). The Nursing Workforce: A Comparison of Three National Surveys. Nursing Economics, 30(5), 253-260. Connell, J. (2010). Migration and the Globalization of Health Care: The Health Worker Exodus? UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. Freeman, M. et al. (2012). Migration: A concept analysis from a nursing perspective. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 68(5), 1176-1186. Huston, C. (2013). Professional Issues in Nursing: Challenges and Opportunities. Baltimore, MD: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Pittman, P. et al. (2012). Immigration and Contract Problems Experienced by Foreign-Educated Nurses. Medical Care Research and Review, 69(3), 351-365. Read More