Some 7,119 Filipino nurses hoping to practice their profession in America took the US licensure examination for the first time from January to September this year, the party-list group ACTS-OFW said Sunday.
“The number is up 26.5 percent versus the 5,624 Philippine-educated nurses who took America’s eligibility test, or the NCLEX, for the first time in the same nine-month period in 2017,” said ACTS-OFW spokesman Francisco Aguilar Jr.
A total of 812 Indians, 715 Puerto Ricans, 563 South Koreans and 412 Nigerians also took the NCLEX for the first time from January to September, he said.
The NCLEX refers to the licensure examination either for registered nurse or for practical nurse administered by the US National Council of State Boards of Nursing Inc.
Because the NCLEX is usually the final step in the US nurse licensure process, the number of foreigners taking the test for the first time is considered a good indicator as to how many of them are trying to enter the profession in America.
Citing newly-released NCSBN statistics, Aguilar said Jamaicans, Canadians and Cubans also compete with Filipinos in America’s nursing labor market.
“Many young Filipino nurses still wish to practice in America mainly due to the superior hourly pay there,” Aguilar said.
“Admittedly, many Filipino nurses also find the Western culture far more attractive, thus their preference to live and work in America compared to other foreign countries,” Aguilar added.
An aggregate of 183,920 Filipino nurses have taken the NCLEX for the first time, without counting repeaters, since 1995, Aguilar said.
The median pay of registered nurses in America was $70,000 per annum, or $33.65 per hour in 2017, data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed.