USA
Visa Backlog Blocks Nursing Help in U.S., but Progress
Seen
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As the country grapples with COVID-19 and a need for
more nurses, many foreign health care workers have been
waiting for permission to enter the U.S. .
Observers say they’ve started to see progress on efforts
to streamline the immigration visa process to allow more
internationally trained health professionals to work in
the U.S. and help address widespread nursing shortages
amid the COVID-19 pandemic. But they also say more needs
to be done.
An estimated 10,000 foreign-trained nurses have been on
the waiting list for an interview, with the average wait
time anywhere from 12 to 18 months. “There has never
been a more urgent need for the care that
foreign-trained nurses provide than during the current
COVID-19 pandemic and its looming aftermath,” AHA
President and CEO Richard J. Pollack wrote. “These
professionals play critical roles in ensuring the health
of the communities we serve.”
Source:
US News
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CANADA
Ontario will deploy
internationally educated nurses to hospitals dealing with staffing shortages
Ontario will deploy internationally educated nurses to hospitals and long-term care
homes facing staffing shortages due to COVID-19.
Health Minister Christine Elliott made the announcement while speaking about
health-care capacity, saying international nurses who have applied to practice in
Ontario "will have the opportunity to meet their applications requirements by
working in health-care settings under the supervision of a regulated health-care
provider."
Elliott said more than 1,200 applicants have already expressed interest and will be
matched with hospitals and long-term care homes later this week.
According to the government, the median stay in intensive care for a COVID-19
patient is currently seven days, compared to 20 days during the peak of the Delta
wave.
The highly infectious Omicron strain has been driving up staff shortages across
essential sectors including hospitals even as admissions have steadily risen.
Source: CTV News
INDIA
Job postings for ‘registered
nurses’ increased by 12% over a year
Approximately 61,00,000 healthcare workers are on Covid duty in India, however, it
is likely to question if the workforce is enough to tackle the health
emergency. Needless to say, healthcare workers are in high demand. But it is not
easy to fill those roles. To identify the hardest-to-fill healthcare roles, Indeed,
a renowned employment portal compiled a list based on the percentage of jobs
unfilled after two months. Of all the roles, the nursing profile appears thrice on
the list — nurse to doctor ratio in India is estimated to be 1.7:1 on the basis of
recent NSSO data. Hospitals are also looking for coding specialists and medical
writers.
While nurses’ jobs are hard to fill, they are also the most-posted. Job
postings for ‘registered nurses’ saw an increase of 13 per cent in August 2021 as
compared to August 2020 on Indeed. Along with nurses, job postings for physicians (7
per cent), laboratory technicians (6 per cent), pharmacists (5 per cent) and nurses
(4 per cent) also showed a steady increase.
Source: The Indian Express
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