New Trends in Foreign Nurse Recruitment (Interview‪)‬

Last year, the Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, released the 2004 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses, which collected data on the actively licensed Registered Nurse population as of March 2004. This most recent edition of the survey revealed that over 100,791 (3.5 percent) of the Registered Nurses (RNs) practicing in the United States received their basic nursing education outside of the U.S. While this percentage reflected only a slight increase since 2000, foreign-educated nurses are now licensed in all 50 States and the District of Columbia. According to the American Hospital Association, 17% of hospitals recruit from abroad to fill nursing vacancies. While the percentage of hospitals looking toward employing foreign-educated nurses (FENs) as part of the solution for the nursing shortage is increasing, questions still arise over the best means to recruit and orient this unique nursing population.