Why Foreign Nurses Enrich US Hospitals

People the world over benefit every day from the incredible talent and care of nurses. While all these medical professionals are heroes in their own way, we want to focus on one particular group that may be changing nursing as a discipline: foreign nurses.

A Study in Adaptability

Foreign and migrant nurses have been coming to the US in a steady stream for a long time. Immigrating is always a challenge, and foreign nurses face many of the same problems as other newcomers. However, their experience in hospitals in other parts of the world may help them in the workplace. Foreign nurses are familiar with all kinds of healthcare systems and hospital practices. They have been exposed to many different patient routines and communicated with diverse populations. In other words, they have learned to adapt. This adaptability is key in the often hectic environment of hospitals. When procedures are constantly fluctuating, and an influx of patients can happen at any time, nothing is more important than the ability to roll with the punches. Foreign nurses understand more than anyone how to react flexibly to the changing demands of a unit, and keep on their game even when things seem chaotic.

Breaking Cultural Barriers

Foreign nurses have the additional benefit of having been exposed to more than one culture. They were raised with dramatically different traditions and cultural norms. This knowledge of foreign environments has more than one benefit. As you may expect, nurses who come from substantially different cultures have an easier time connecting to patients with a similar backgrounds. In a place where tensions run high, this ability to connect is key and this cultural breadth is a great reason to have foreign nurses on staff. The culture change that foreign nurses navigated also translates to an even broader skill: empathy. Foreign nurses have experienced the trials and tribulations of switching countries, which means they know exactly how it feels to be lost and confused in a new situation. Patients who are feeling overwhelmed often need somebody who understands how they feel, and foreign nurses can offer some genuine connection in addition to standard nursing care. Having staff members who can relate fluidly to patients can completely change the tone of a busy unit, and make a hospital a more efficient and more relaxed space. It's also worth remembering that foreign nurses also often speak a language other than English or even several. Language barriers arise all the time in hospitals, and when medical professionals need to make themselves clear for a patient's safety and consent, that can be a big problem. Foreign nurses are often trained in other countries, so their multilingualism extends easily to the medical field. They are already comfortable discussing procedures with patients in their native language and they do it a lot better than Google Translate. For patients, having someone nearby who can understand and communicate with them is invaluable. Foreign nurses are becoming major players in American hospitals and with good reason. The breadth of their expertise and the level of their care is unbeatable and the diverse hospitals of the future will need more foreign nurses. INTERNATIONAL NURSES: The opportunity to live and work in the United States has never been this ripe. Click the button below to register with PassportUSA and get started on your #AmericanDream!

U.S. HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATIONS: If you are looking for a cost-effective, temp-to-perm nurse staffing solution, please connect with our Business Development Team.