Nurses in waiting room

Even as nursing homes in the United States (US) reel from a shortage of nurses and other healthcare professionals, there are some 200 Jamaican healthcare professionals awaiting the American government’s approval to take up jobs in nursing homes and rehabilitation centres in that country.

The 200 healthcare professionals span registered nurses, certified nursing assistants and licensed practical nurses (LPNs).

The shortage of registered nurses, certified nursing assistants and licensed practical nurses in US nursing homes and rehabilitation centres follows the Donald Trump administration’s revocation of temporary protective status for large groups of immigrants from various countries who usually staffed such institutions.

Among those waiting to take up a job in the US, for which she has been recruited, is a certified nursing assistant currently working in Jamaica who asked to be identified as ‘Tiffany’.

Tiffany told The Gleaner that she has been waiting for just over two years to be approved by the US government so she can take up the post for which she was recruited.

According to her, she applied for the post when it was offered because it would provide her with greater financial stability.

“I always hear that the medical profession in the United States pays well and this will provide me with the means to take care of my children,” she told The Gleaner.

Tiffany told The Gleaner that, although she has been waiting two years for the process to be completed, she has no doubt that it will eventually happen.

“You have to do what you have to do,” she said.

Tiffany said she is constantly updated by the recruiters on where the process stands and she is confident that the call for her to migrate to the US will come any day now.

Also awaiting a call to take up a job in the US is Thin (also not her right name).

Currently employed as an LPN in Jamaica, another recruit, who asked to be identified as ‘Thin’, said she is making the jump to the US because there is no room for growth at the private institutions where she is currently employed.

“Most time you do not feel appreciated,” she told The Gleaner.

Like Tiffany, Thin said she has children and has to look out for their future.

“I am sure that I will be better paid in the United States than I am right now,” she said.

She told The Gleaner that she too is constantly updated as to where the process stands.

Patrick Beckford, who recruited the nursing professionals for a major healthcare company in the US, told The Gleaner that the US Department of Labor has already approved the job applications and the recruits are now just awaiting the US Department of State to provide the necessary visas.

Beckford is a former chair of the Diaspora Advisory Board for the Northeast United States, a clergyman and a well-known diaspora figure. The Diaspora Board is the forerunner to the present Diaspora Global Council.

He was retained by the major healthcare entity to recruit healthcare professionals not only in Jamaica but other parts of the Caribbean, including Grenada.

He said the persons recruited will be provided with “green cards” and will not be on specific work visas.

However, they have to commit to working with the company for a minimum of three years.

“This is a large company with locations in New Jersey, Virginia, Florida, Maryland and other states.

He said the waiting period may seem long but the process has to play out.

Beckford added that he has seen no evidence that the clampdown on migrants in the US by the Trump administration has had any effect on the recruitment process for the Jamaicans awaiting approval to take up their posts in the US.

“They are not coming in on a temporary basis but as permanent residents, so there is a difference,” he said.

Dawn-Marie Richards, president of the Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ), speaking with The Gleaner about the recruitment of nurses to the US, said the NAJ would have no first-hand information on nurses being recruited to the US.

“It is done on an individual basis and people keep it a secret and you will only hear when the person is getting ready to leave,” she said.

“As an association, we are not involved in the recruitment process for nurses to the US.”

She also pointed out that recruitment takes place online and so her organisation would not be privy to the recruitment.

Immigration attorney Winston Tucker said he believed recruitment could be impacted by the Trump administration’s immigration policies as persons and organisations no longer have confidence in the process as the policies change frequently.

editorial@gleanerjm.com