Judy: The demand for nurses has
reached an historic high.
Already short supply
significantly worsened during
the pandemic.
That has driven the recruitment
of foreign trained nurses to
record levels.
Our correspondent traveled to
North Dakota to see the
challenges both hospitals and
nurses are facing.
>> It's a long way to just about
anywhere, even a ranch across
the rolling prairies of western
North Dakota where cows far
outnumber people.
The nearest town of Elgin, has
no stoplights or fast food
joints but to people's relief,
it does have a small hospital.
>> Our population is mainly
older.
>> We met Charlie and Enid at
the sippin chicken coffee shop.
>> When we need to get to the
doctor quickly, it's really good
to have this facility here.
>> We are 70 miles from
bismarck, which is a long drive.
If you had a heart attack, you
would not last.
>> Staff members in the last
month.
We're always -- she's from the
Philippines.
She will be the night charge
nurse.
>> At the Jacobson memorial
hospital, teddy Warner is a
rarity.
She was born and raised in this
area.
Most of the 10 to 12 nurses
working here come through a
revolving door.
Temporary travel nurses from
across the U.S. And foreign ones
on longer contracts.
>> We had a group of filipinos,
also a group of Kenyans.
They become core staff.
You get to know them very well.
>> I'm a nurse that wants to
meet you.
Hi.
>> Where were you before?
>> Philippines.
>> Where?
>> Philippines.
In my country.
>> Philippines?
>> We're seeing tens of
thousands of filipino nurses
coming to the United States.
>> George Washington university
professor Patricia
Pittman says that the U.S. Has
long recruited nurses from that
country where colonial ties
helped created American model of
nursing education.
Pittman says the U.S. Was facing
a shortage before the pandemic
due to an aging workforce and
paradoxically good economic
times when many nurses quit if
their spouses are gainfully
employed.
Covid she says rapidly escalated
the exodus.
>> Everything from the first
period when there was not enough
ppe, and they felt betrayed by
employers are not protecting
them to issues around having to
take care of their families as a
female dominated.
To the.
Exhaustion.
>> The pandemic delayed rose's
arrival.
She was off the job in 2016 but
Visa processing, already
backlogged, was pushed back
further.
With years of experience, the
35-year-old expects to adapt
quickly to the American system
but she did admit to one here
early on.
>> This is the first time I will
be handling people from this
country.
And I don't know if they will
accept me because of my skin
color.
But based on my experience,,
since I came, I do not feel any
of that.
>> Yes, you do.
You are so pretty.
>> She said she found people
welcoming and helpful.
And she could make the
adjustment to life here.
>> At the moment, I do not have
a car.
Once I get there, problem
>> Until you start driving in
the wintertime.
North Dakota's cold weather is
one reason why most for nurses
don't renew past three or
obligation.
Isolation is another.
In Dickinson, 80 miles northwest
of Elgin, this nurse and his
wife arrived via San Francisco
with their one-year-old son.
Exhausted from all the travel,
unsure about the blast of cold
air that greeted them.
>> Nice to meet you.
>> His employer, the 88 bed St
Luke's offered a warm welcome on
a busy first full day in
Dickinson.
>> Finger prints, apartment
shopping.
We're ready for this.
>> I'm waited for it for a long
time.
>> He had waited four years for
his Visa to clear.
The CEO played tour guide for
the day, as he got single
printed.
--Ingerprinted.
And they critically got to meet
colleagues, six of the seven
nurses on staff.
>> He has a young daughter.
So, if we can have any employee
with their family you're less
likely to be lonely, you're more
likely to be social and out at
about versus if your family is
across the world.
So, just having an adequate
sized filipino population in our
time is a good asset and
resource for them.
>> One question raised in the
story concerns the ethics of
rich countries luring away the
best talents of poor one.
Whether the Philippines or
India, especially sub-saharan
African that do not graduate a
lot of nurses and desperately
need their services.
>> The world health organization
has been concerned about
poaching from poor countries
because you are using taxpayer
money from those countries to
fund our health workforce.
I would say at the policy level,
however, in terms of congress,
there has been very little
interest in this issue.
>> Did you always want to work
in America?
>> Yes.
It's a -- 13 years.
Um.
Dream for me.
>> You have been dreaming about
this for 13 years?
>> Since I passed my exams in
the Philippines.
This has always been my dream.
>> They say nurses get little
respect in the Philippines, a
complaint echoed among American
nursing troops but back home it
is reflected in pay whic he says
is about one tenth of what they
will earn a North Dakota.
>> My goal I S to give my son a
better life.
I think being here, favors him.
>> You hear people sometimes
say, it is not ethical for rich
countries to take the best
brains from porer countries.
Have you given that any thought?
>> I think for me I have spent
15 years in the Philippines.
I think, the service I gave is
enough.
I think maybe it is my time to
give for myself to choose for a
better life.
>> How long that will be a north
Dakota remains to be seen.
For more Philippine nurses have
been offered jobs at St. Luke's
and are awaiting Visa approval.
In Dickinson, North Dakota.
Judy: A reminder, Fred's
reporting is in partnership with
the under told stories project
at the university of St. Thomas
in Minnesota.