At least 6,000 Filipino nurses took the U.S. licensure examination from January to June this year in the hope to practice their profession in American, according to an overseas Filipino workers coalition group.
Chairman Aniceto Bertiz III of the ACTS-OFW Coalition of Organizations said that the number was up 33 percent from the 4,533 Philippine-educated nurses who took America’s eligibility test or NCLEX for the same period last year.
“Many Filipino nurses looking for greener pastures abroad still prefer to work and live in America, mainly due to the superior hourly pay, plus our fondness for the Western culture,” Bertiz said.
Registered nurses in America received a median pay of $71,730 per annum, or $34.48 per hour in 2018, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
California and Texas are among the U.S. states with the highest concentration of Filipino nurses working in hospitals, Bertiz said.
The U.S. BLS sees the employment of nurses in America to grow by 15 percent over the next 10 years, mainly due to the aging “Baby Boom” generation requiring extra healthcare.
There are now some 76 million Americans aged between 55 to 75.
Bertiz said U.S. nursing schools are not producing new graduates fast enough to meet growing demand, mainly because they lack teaching staff.
He also said that 669 Indians, 585 Puerto Ricans, 461 South Koreans and 381 Nigerians also took the NCLEX for the first time from January to June.
The NCLEX for registered nurse (RN) or for practical nurse (PN) is the licensure test administered by the U.S. National Council of State Boards of Nursing Inc.
The NCLEX is usually the final step in the U.S. nurse licensure process and the number of Filipinos 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, Bertiz said.
