Why nursing is great in demand in the US?

I wonder why country like US have short on supply of nurses and they pick or hire nurses from other asian countries. I believe there are lots of american women there in the US and I wonder why only a few of them want to have a nursing carrier, given the fact that the salary is good.

There is not a nursing shortage in the U.S. Nurses have quit in huge numbers because corporate America moved in and made patient care unsafe. For example, prudent research has shown that one registered nurse to twelve patients is the minimal safest ratio of care. But, big business has endangered patients and nurses' careers (lawsuits) by cutting back on properly trained nursing staff. For example, that problem is so horrible that in some nursing homes, one nurse is expected to care for up to 68 patients at one time. That is so someone makes more money, not because the owners care about patient saftey. Another example: One night when I was the only nurse on duty in a nursing home wing, a male patient went into respiratory distress. At the same time, a female patient demanded a new box of tissues. I pulled a box of tissues out of a locked closet and had an aide take a box of tissues to the female, and ran myself to the male in respiratory distress. But, the female patient pitched a fit. She wanted a box of tissues with FLOWERS on the box, not a plain colored box! I did not have time to return and unlock the closet for another box of tissues. I attended the patient in respiratory distress first and later that evening pulled another box of tissues for the female patient. The next day, management wrote me up for not getting the "big picture" about "customer service" because the female patient had complained about the delay in getting her choice of tissue boxes. Obviously, the events were well-documented, but healthcare in the U.S. today is about serving the "customer" and making a profit, not about properly caring for patients. Healthcare professionals, especially nurses, should be prioritorizing healthcare decisions, not business people. Also, salaries for even well-educated nurses has not kept up with free market demand. If salaries went up, there would not be a "shortage". I never worked anywhere as a nurse, with college degrees, where I made more than the janitor did. I won't nurse again until nurses have more say in patient safety and until nursing salaries are fair market value.

A survey done (I saw it on CNN) indicate that most young generation do not want to take up nursing as an occupation. They have various reason including the job being a dirty one, low pay, long working hours. The number of people in USA particulary the older generation is high and the number of nurses available cannot fully cater for them. As a result they have to hire nurses from other countries and continents.

it's not that so few pursue such a career, but rather that the need is constantly increasing.

i really can't answer for the rest, but i am preparing to become a nurse after a career change. i am taking college courses for the field right now...so im on the bandwagon its takinig long enough tho...can't wait!!!

Very good question!!! When American-born nursing students graduate from nursing school, they realize that when they start working that nursing is very hard work. Especially, "floor nursing", where a nurse has 5 or more patients. After a year of experience, they move on to other specialties, like critical care. You have two patients, but they are very sick and very critical. This field entails prestige and a lot of pride for a nurse gets to work independently and gets to use all the latest technology.

Now, think about this....when everyone leaves the crappiest of assignments and leaves for critical care, managerial positions, pharmaceutical companies, or anything that doesn't involves dealing with patients.....Who is going to do this?!?!! Foreign nurses. They have no say in it, most of the time because they are on a visa. They make less than the American citizen nurses, and, hey, they are working in the land of the free....America!!!

That's a very short summary. there's more. But, most important, nursing is hard!!! But rewarding! I hope one day healthcare gets better...because I honestly believe the real nurses are the floor nurses. Yes, it's the worst one, and it takes a special someone to continue to do that.