The global nursing shortage is becoming a bidding war as countries vie for talent.
The U.S. is facing a nursing shortage of more than 1 million nurses by 2025, according to a recent report from the American Nurses Association. The U.K., meanwhile, is facing a nursing shortage of nearly 40,000 nurses, according to the Royal College of Nursing.
With the demand for nurses far outpacing the supply, countries are starting to poach nurses from each other. The U.S., for example, has been actively recruiting nurses from the Philippines and India in recent years. In 2017, the U.K. government launched a $1 million advertising campaign to recruit 3,000 Filipino nurses to work in the National Health Service.
The nursing shortage is being exacerbated by an aging population and an increasing number of retirements. In the U.S., nearly 30% of registered nurses are age 55 or older and more than half are age 50 or older, according to the ANA report. The global nursing shortage is reaching a crisis point, with hospitals in the U.S. and other countries resorting to creative measures to recruit and retain nurses.
As the shortage continues to grow, so does the competition for talent. Countries like Australia, Canada, and the U.K. have been actively recruiting nurses from developing countries like the Philippines and India.
