Philippine nurses and the brain drain.

Abstract

The Philippines has been one of the greatest exporters of professional personnel to the United States, and nurses outnumber any other category. Although some problems have been reported, their experience in the United States has been generally good. A comparison of samples of Filipino nurses who never left the Philippines with those who had either remained for a long time in the United States or who had remained to the U.S. after a short period found little difference in socioeconomic background. Nurses remaining for long periods in the United States did receive lower scores on scales designed to test anchorage and perceived relative opportunities in the Philippines. The supply of Philippine nurses is growing and migration will continue at a high level if U.S. immigration policies permit.