Well known to many is the fact that the United States is in the midst of a national nursing shortage crisis that is expected to worsen as the current generation of nurses continue to retire, shift to other fields, and as the need for health care grows. Compounding the problem, reported by the American Association of College of Nursing, is the fact that nursing colleges and universities across the country are struggling to expand enrollment levels to meet the rising demand for nursing care.
Insult is added to injury as Latino nurses account for less than 2 percent of the total nursing workforce while the Latinos at large represent greater than 13 percent of the population, according to the National Sample Survey on Registered Nurses. Many recommendations resulting from reports across the nation are that healthcare and educational institutions expand the pool of racial and ethnic minorities of healthcare workers to represent the diverse demographic population that it serves. Undoubtedly, the need for bilingual and bicultural nurses is a necessity to meet the needs of Latino residents of all descents finding themselves medically underserved.
In addressing this issue several nursing communities identified a substantial pool of experienced nurses trained outside of the United States capable of addressing this nursing shortage. However, instead due to difficulties navigating the system foreign educated nurses are underutilized finding themselves working as housekeepers, laborers, factory workers, garage attendants and other nonprofessional positions. The International Bilingual Nurses Alliance (IBNA), a nationwide collaborative of nursing organizations, to develop and implement programs. These programs focused on identifying and addressing national barriers in credentialing and licensure processing for nurses, developing standardized curricula to assist foreign nurses transition into nursing practice in the U.S., identifying hospital sponsors and funding sources to support programs designed to prepare nurses for success on the national exam and transition into the nursing workforce, as well as developing an enhanced mutual relationship with the Mexican government responsible for credentialing.
IBNA's programs continue to pave the way for foreign educated nurses with the collaborative relationships and on going dialogue with the Mexican government. The path is long and difficult for foreign educated nurses and nursing organizations, however these programs have reached an 85% success rate and have help improve the pool of Latino nurses, by adding more than 300 nurses nationwide, thus meeting the needs of our Latino communities across the nation.