Salaries of Filipino Nurses In The USA
Recent reports put the number of unemployed nurses in the Philippines at around 150,000. And this figure will continue to increase in the next few years considering the number of nursing students lately. Though these nurses can apply anywhere from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Canada, UK to nearby Singapore, the United States remain the most attractive of these destinations. Two things differentiate the USA dream: The salary of nurses and the immigrant visa.
My wife is a registered nurse and we are at the final stages of our immigration application for the United States. The current retrogression somewhat delayed everything, even though demand for nurses in the US is still very high, and expected to further increase in 2025, when the baby boomers will reach retirement age. The October 2008 visa bulletin had been released lately and there now seems a ray of hope for the nurses. The priority dates had moved too, though not the ones we expected.
Plenty of my wife’s friends and classmates are already in the US, having gone there more than two years ago, prior to the retrogression. Some had even transferred locations and employers when their initial contracts expired. They said that US hospitals are really in need of nurses. These hospitals even have some tempting offers and signing bonuses just to lure them to their fold.
When these friends and classmates of my wife happen to return here in the Philippines for a vacation, they get together and talk about their experiences and even the nursing salaries. How much does a nurse earn? They said that in nursing homes, where some of them started, the rate starts at $19/hr. If you are an NCLEX passer, they said that they give you a few dollars more per hour. For hospitals in a larger city, the rate is around $25-$35. To convert all of this on a 40-hr workweek, the nurses’ salaries is around 40–73k annual.
The Filipino nurses must be earning pretty well in the US! An aunt’s sister-in-law is working as a Nurse Supervisor at a New York hospital. And she can afford treating at least 10 of her family members on a cruise ship vacation each year, or even twice a year. Though my aunt’s not telling, I estimate that she must be earning six digits annual.
But for the new immigrant nurses, I guess there is not much choice as one has to honor contracts. I recalled the rate conveyed by a friend who was also hired by the same agency as that of my wife. Because she lived in a small city, and the cost of living is very low, her entry rate, despite being low as compared to those of other states, is more than enough to support her expenses. She can even send more money for her family in the Philippines.
Another classmate of my wife really had a difficulty when she and her husband first set foot in New Jersey. The entry rate is high, but the cost of living is also astronomical. It took them a few months to fully adjust and recover the initial costs of their immigration. Her husband, though a Law Graduate in the Philippines, was not able to find a job immediately.
Though the nurse salaries in the US if converted to peso is 30 times (or more) the compensation of those employed here in the Philippines, it is still not a guarantee of an easy life. They earn in dollars, they spend in dollars. And one really has to do proper financial planning especially in the face of the financial crises that rock the United States right now.
For more information, check out this website about nursing salaries. It is a free salary calculator by careerbuilder.com. They put the median at $54,126 annual for nurses nationwide. You can even check the nursing salaries of the various nursing positions, like occupational nursing supervisors, nursing aides and home care nurses, for the various cities in all states.
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Tags: Career, Filipino Nurses, Nurse, Nurses in the USA Posted in
Ceblogger is a CPA trapped in his cubicle while his mind wanders outside watching the world, and exploring possibilities his mind conceived.
September 17th, 2008 at 5:07 am
Super saya pare pag nakaka tsamba talaga at makapag work sa abroad esp in US and the UK. Di hamak mas malaki naman talaga ang pay.
No wonder madami pa rin kumukuha ng nursing, despite sa over supply. But perhaps, maybe some should try IT too. Madami din opps sa labas, esp on Java, PHP, and those who have good business process background (Acctg, IE) – they can transition to an ERP Consulting career.
I am actually collecting CVs of people with good experience in accounting, business process audit/review, logistics and manufacturing – I am planning to train these people to be Oracle Consultants. Also HR practitioners.
September 17th, 2008 at 10:25 am
i have a niece who has a degree in nursing from the philippines but when she got to the US, she preferred to work in a restaurant… she enjoys her work and her salary is higher than the median in your article… anyway, she didn’t spend a lot of money on her nursing tuition, CAP paid for it and her mom bought the plan in the early 80’s when it was still cheap!
September 18th, 2008 at 6:07 am
I always feel 2 things when I hear news like this. I am happy because my kababayans will have a chance to earn good money for their families.
However, I feel sad and could not imagine that if all nurses and other good performer professionals will leave the country, who will take of the patients here? Albularyo?
What is bothering me also is that students are now taking courses that they do not really like, but since it is very much in demand abroad they go for it? Haaay, hanggang kailan kaya tayo ganito?
September 18th, 2008 at 8:33 am
bloggista, the pay is really high for those who are lucky to land a job in UK or US. Demand for filipino nurses is still very high, though hampered by strict immigration laws in the US or in some countries.
for IT, i guess the IT jobs are already here in RP coz large companies are outsourcing these. Your business direction is an excellent one.
betchay, those were the CAP days, and nursing education is not yet that expensive. Some were actually forced to enroll in nursing, for practical reasons.
angel, this exportation of our oversupply in workforce is a good thing. If plans to promote the Philippines for medical tourism pushes through, then new medical jobs can be created, and pay is expected to rise.
September 18th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Hi, Drop you for today
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September 24th, 2008 at 4:08 am
Bro,
Swerte swerte nga talaga sa field of Nursing. Pag nakapunta ka na sa US, it’s truly a big break. Goodluck sa inyo ng wife mo. Wag ka sanang makakalimot in the next few months kahit nasa US ka na. Size 9 1/2 ang shoes ko kapatid.
September 24th, 2008 at 5:25 am
haha, jessie. pareho pala tayo ng shoe size.
July 30th, 2009 at 6:54 am
it’a a good news to all nurses out there. matindi pla ang sweldo ng nurses abroad.
November 17th, 2009 at 11:11 am
Wow! swerte nyo naman. I’m a Filipino nurse too and I applied for a US immigrant visa last 2006 but until now I’m still here in the Philippines; nothing seemed to happen; nakakalungkot. I hope and pray that the processing of visas in the US would truly speed up; sobrang overworked na ako in the hospital where I’m working right now. Lately, I’m considering other countries in the Middle east or perhaps the UK or Australia; sobrang mahal nga lang…
January 21st, 2010 at 5:29 pm
Its nice to know.. NO wonder why many students took Nursing course. =)
August 19th, 2010 at 1:24 am
Well America is truly a land of oppurtunity, but said oppurtunity is hard to come by at this period. Having said that, I find it difficult to understand why despite of the said freeze in hiring of nurses, a lot of our nurses still opt to wait for that oppurtunity instead of starting a career somewhere else. Many countries in the middle east are eager to hire our nurses, the pay are not that high comparing to the pay in america but certainly it’s not that bad either. consider also that its tax free and all are provided including your vacation ticket…It’s a good start that comes with a good experience as well.
I don’t intend to brag about what pay I am receiving, but would you believe if I said that I am receiving a 5k+ USD Gross with all free incentives?Of course that goes with my experience but if I have to offer you 2 to 2.5k USD Gross salary in the middle east, would you hesitate? Sa hirap ng buhay and with all the uncertainties in the U.S. I don’t think we have much choice do we? Anyway, I am currently a nurse in Qatar…According to some of the nurses here,in a month or two the biggest hospital here in Qatar will soon be recruiting staffs for the newly erected facility in the west side of the country, should you desire a different path in your career, you might want to contact UNIVERSAL STAFFING ( http://www.universalstaffing.com)…..Your choice…Gud luck to our nurses…
August 19th, 2010 at 11:01 am
thank you for the info JohnB!