Fil-Am Nurses at a crossroads: The Erosion of a Once Stable Profession

Nursing, long considered a bedrock profession in the United States, is undergoing seismic shifts that place many Filipino-American nurses in a painful quandary. Once a symbol of stability and upward mobility, the profession is now marked by systemic strain, policy upheaval, and mounting emotional tolls.

Fil-Am nurses—who comprise four percent of the total US nursing workforce and over one-third of all foreign-trained nurses—are disproportionately affected. In 2024 alone, 28,258 Filipino nursing graduates took the US licensure exam, the highest number from any foreign country.

Since national origin quotas were abolished in 1965, over 150,000 Filipino nurses have immigrated to the US. Yet, caps on employment-based green cards continue to stifle this pipeline, preventing thousands more from helping alleviate staffing shortages in high-demand urban areas where Fil-Am nurses are highly concentrated.

A 2023 study by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing revealed that over 610,000 registered nurses plan to leave the workforce by 2027, driven by burnout, stress, and poor retention. Fil-Am nurses working in high-pressure units like ICUs and ERs are under extreme strain, often feeling overworked and undervalued.

A friend who is a nurse in a private Virginia hospital shared that nurse-to-patient ratios have worsened, with nurses now responsible for more patients per shift—an unsustainable load that compromises care and safety.

When nurses are stretched thin, the consequences are dire: chronic burnout, medical errors, infections, and complications that increase mortality rates and hospital readmissions. Financial pressures from rising costs of supplies, labor, and operations have made staffing the first target for cuts.

While average nurse salaries hover around $90,000 per year, many report stagnant wages and escalating workloads. A relative working for a major national healthcare provider said their union may strike soon to demand better pay and conditions. Unfortunately, many Fil-Am nurses work in settings where union access is limited or nonexistent, silencing their collective voice.

The situation is poised to worsen under Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law on 4 July 2025. The legislation includes over $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and ACA (Affordable Care Act) subsidies over the next decade. The Congressional Budget Office projects that 16 million Americans will lose their health coverage by 2034. Hospitals will face spikes in uncompensated care, forcing them to cut services and staff—especially in long-term care, home health, and urban hospitals where Fil-Am nurses are heavily represented.

Fil-Am nurses also serve immigrant-heavy communities, where patients are most vulnerable to losing coverage due to new restrictions on ACA subsidies and Medicaid eligibility. The result? Fil-Am nurses may face layoffs, heavier workloads, and a growing temptation to leave the profession altogether.

So, the question looms: Will nursing remain an anchor for Fil-Am professionals, or will they begin exploring alternative careers? The answer may depend on whether policymakers, hospital systems, and communities recognize the indispensable role Fil-Am nurses and nurses in general play—and whether they act swiftly to protect it.