Health care warfare
D
EATH is so blinding by the numbers that after the first 100 million people dying, the news that close to a million die daily is no longer a shocker.
In contrast, during World War 2 — the deadliest military conflict in history — the death toll was placed at 70 to 85 million people.
The US still leads the world in terms of those dying from the country’s battle against Covid-19. The count was 901,3910 on Friday last week.
Health care workers, frontline and essential professionals, including nurses, were victims, too, leaving widows, widowers and children behind.
Worldwide, approximately 115,500 health and care workers have succumbed to the virus, according to the World Health Organization. That was at the end of October 2021.
Those who remained in the emergency and intensive care unit trenches battled on, dealing with patients who have become harder to deal with, especially those who are unvaccinated and are the most vocal and belligerent.
Reports of nurses being assaulted, trashed, vilified and insulted, coupled with the uncertainty of getting additional help, drive a significant number of registered nurses (RNs) to quit their jobs.
Once glorified as health care heroes, they are now at war not just with the virus but the ranting hosts as well.
Difficult working conditions, inadequate pay, protection and care from employers pushed nurses toward their inner psychological and mental bunkers where the choice is to resign to the current situation — or resign.
A September 2021 survey of 6,000 nurses by the American Association of Health Care Nurses show most chose to stop working and start elsewhere.
US nursing shortage
Before the pandemic hit hard, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the country’s nursing shortage “will intensify as 200,000 nurses are needed each year through 2029.”
Ironically, nursing enrollment had increased, with the promise of graduates in at least two years’ time.
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing reported on Nov. 3, 2021 that “enrollment in nursing programs across the US increased nearly 6 percent in 2020 from the year before.”
An increase in future nurses was also evident in nursing schools across other states: Nursing school applications at Temple University in Pennsylvania increased about 15 percent last fall. Fox Valley Technical College in Wisconsin experienced a 12-percent increase in enrollment in their nursing program compared to 2020.
Will domestic graduates and foreign RN and health care worker recruits save the day?
Hopefully, the pandemic will evolve to be endemic.
By that time, the next generation of health care workers are licensed and ready with their syringe swords and vaccine shields, and should be fighting in a different battlefield and landscape. The prospect of immediate employment with a high starting pay compared to other occupations are good incentives.
In addition, it is fair to assume that health care employers — hospitals, facilities in the five major Desti-Nations — would have more than sufficient physical, financial and moral support.
UK shortage occupations
The official website of UK.gov lists nurses (all jobs) as much in demand. So, with “other” health professionals, including physical therapists, medical radiographers, occupational therapists, nursing auxiliaries and assistants.
The link to the UK shortage occupations is https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/skilled-workervisa-shortage-occupations/skilledworker-visa-shortage-occupations
H Plus Care Ltd. in Maidenhead, Berkshire, was recently accredited as a registered employer of Concorde Human Resource International, a Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA)-licensed recruitment agency in good standing. Recruitment and processing of qualified health care worker candidates are ongoing.
Understaffed, overwhelmed
Last month, Global News reported that Canada is “headed for a nursing shortage beyond anything (the country) has ever experienced.”
As with the US and the UK, “understaffing, limited resources, constant overtime and poor pay,” coupled with the recurring Covid-19 surges, has led to the “public crisis that no one is talking about.”
Ontario province reported consistent days of soaring positive cases, 11,582 confirmed last week, which is regarded as not reflecting “the actual infections as testing across the province has been restricted to those in high-risk groups.”
A year before the pandemic, the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions from the University of Regina showed “83 percent of nurses felt that their institution’s core health care staff was insufficient to meet patient needs.”
The twin scourge of the Omicron variant, inadequate support and conflicting regulations from the state and federal governments, have pushed nurses to the breaking point.
Like their US and UK counterparts, Canadian nurses routinely suffer from “dealing with aggressive patients, being assaulted, as well as being placed on wards where they have no training or experience, with little support.”
Canada, however, has adopted a different strategy to enlist nurses and health care soldiers.
While the POEA’s list of approved job orders for the UK and the US shows an almost unlimited number of RN vacancies, Canada has taken the student-to-resident pathway and draws most of the candidates from international students who have completed health care or nursingrelated academic programs.
International students are allowed to work 20 hours a week while studying and able to work full time during off-school periods. Then, after completion of the course, students are authorized to work full-time during the postgraduate work permit stage.
Moreover, the partners (common law or spouses) of international students can work full time from day one after admission as a dependent of the spouse student-visa holder.
Aussie, NZ: Losing battle
At the height of the pandemic, Australia’s prime minister admonished international students to go home as they were seen as taking away jobs from Australians and were feeding off public funds.
After meeting with his national Cabinet on April 3, 2020, Mr. Morrison said those in Australia “under various visa arrangements and cannot support themselves should consider returning to their home countries.”
At that time, more than 500,000 international students were in Australia — many have lost their jobs and earning potential due to Covid-19 restrictions.
“Australia must focus on its citizens and its residents to ensure that we can maximize the economic support that we have,” the prime minister said.
Spurned and feeling abandoned, international students hit back with their wallets. Adventus, an international student recruitment platform (https://adventus.io), reported foreign student applications for Australian universities have plunged 51 percent since March 2021.
International students inject almost $32 billion into Australia’s economy each year and support 130,000 Australian jobs.
Their billions of spending money and job creation benefits have moved from Down Under to the top three international student Desti-Nations.
In the case of New Zealand, before the pandemic, the number of foreign university students ranged from 14 percent (University of Otago) to 48 percent (Lincoln University).
New Zealand was the first country to close its borders to international travelers, including students. The border closure cost the
country NZ$5 billion a year and lost around 45,000 jobs, created by international students.
Last month, New Zealand closed its borders again as Covid-19 response minister Chris Hopkins temporarily suspended the entry of its citizens and permanent residents, citing the risk of spreading the Omicron variant.
Last week, New Zealand announced it will resume admission of non-citizens in stages starting end-February, after its earlier plans to do so were derailed by Omicron.
The first-stage arrivals would be open to “vaccinated New Zealand citizens and visa holders coming from Australia, then from the rest of the world, and finally, to all other vaccinated visitors.”
Quarantine procedures will apply self-isolation at home for 10 days bypassing the controversial managed isolation facilities known as MIQ, now associated with confusion and heartaches.
Critical workers and skilled workers will be next, followed by those eligible under the working holiday scheme
Five thousand international students and other eligible temporary visa holders are expected to come by April 12. The rear will be taken up by Australians and other travelers who do not require a visa to enter New Zealand.
Prime Minister Ardern said all other international visitors will be allowed to enter New Zealand from October.
For skilled migrants, opening the border is not a sign that residency applications for overseas applicants — even those in the expression of interest pool — can expect to have their cases decided anytime soon.
Immigration New Zealand currently has 12,634 residence visa applications, involving 29,429 people, waiting to be allocated for processing.
Since February 2020, New Zealand has prioritized highly paid applicants, earning more than $106,000 and applicants with current occupational registration. This was accompanied by the one-off 2021 residency visa available only to those approximately 165,000 currently in the country.
The potential and prospective winners?
Filipino nurses and other health care workers who have had their qualifications and credentials assessed, and international students to Canada who shall be there years ahead of their other intending migrant counterparts.