Experts say the nation’s nursing shortage—which already has prompted hospitals to recruit nursing staff from countries such as the Philippines and India—is now prompting a growing number of hospitals to recruit in Mexico, the Associated Press reports. Although the recruitment of nurses from Mexico is still in its “early stages”—with only 58 Mexican nurses taking the U.S. nurse licensing exam in 2002—experts say the opportunity to multiply their salaries by as much as 10 times will likely lead others to pursue positions in the United States. MDS Global, a nurse recruitment firm, offers to pay for candidates’ English classes, visa applications, and certification exams for placement in the United States; the company says it plans to send its first group of about 30 nurses to the United States next month. Observers note, however, that the recent recruitment push has “alarmed” some health experts and fueled ongoing debate over a “possible drain on already strained health care in the developing world.” Although officials from the American Nursing Association have “express[ed] concern about the ethics of recruiting nurses abroad” and contend that higher wages could help ease the nursing shortage by attracting more domestic workers, a spokesperson from the International Council of Nurses says some emigration of nurses can be beneficial to the source country because it often helps “the expansion of the training facilities, level of education, and…image of the profession.” Meanwhile, some observers note that hiring nurses who are fluent in Spanish and familiar with Mexican culture may be advantageous to hospitals facing a “rapidly expanding Hispanic population” (Lee, AP/Tallahassee Democrat, 6/27).
