The US National Council of State Boards of Nursing Inc. released its latest statistics and it shows that the Philippines still tops foreign nurses applicants in the United States this year.
For the first nine months of 2019, there were 9,195 candidates who studied from Philippine nursing schools who took the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX). This number represents first-time applicants only.
Aside from the Philippines, the top four countries applying as nurses in the US from January to September of 2019 are India with 1,064 candidates, Puerto Rico (805 candidates), South Korea (638 candidates) and Nigeria (623 candidates).
It is not known how many of these Filipino applicants have passed the exams.
But data from US nursing board showed that of the 15,053 internationally educated first-time applicants for Registered Nurses category, only 47.45 percent passed.
There were also 14,441 repeat applicants for Registered Nurses from international schools, and only 28.97 percent passed.
Passing NCLEX is the final step to enter the US nursing profession.
RN’s average annual salary in the US was US$73,550 (Php 3.75 million) in 2017.
Government nurses in the Philippines minimum wage is US$4,800 (P250,000) a year. Even if the latest Supreme Court ruling is enforced, their minimum wage will only be US$7,100 (P360,000) a year.
