The findings of a study conducted to determine whether foreign-educated nurses (FENs) perceived they were treated equitably in the U.S. workplace during the last period of high international recruitments (2003-2007) will be published in the January 2014 issue of American Journal of Nursing, Vol. 114, No. 1. Co-authors included Franklin A. Shaffer, EdD, RN, FAAN and CEO of CGFNS International, Inc. and Catherine R. Davis, PhD, RN, Director of Global Learning, Research and Development for CGFNS International.

FEN respondents reported relatively high levels of job satisfaction. Yet FENs who perceived workplace discrimination were significantly less likely to report job satisfaction. FENs recruited by staffing agencies reported much higher levels of perceived discrimination with regard to salary and benefits compared with all other FENs. They were also more likely to report perceived discrimination in shift or unit assignments.

Overall, 40% of the FENS in this study perceived their wages, benefits, or shift or unit assignments to be inferior to those of their American colleagues. About a third of all respondents reported that they had not received sufficient orientation to life in the United States from their employers or recruiters or placement agencies. A similar proportion reported receiving insufficient orientation to the culture of their patient populations from health care employers. About a fifth of all respondents reported insufficient clinical orientation to their new workplaces. The majority of the respondents were educated in the Philippines, India and Canada.

“These findings raise both practical and ethical concerns that should be of interest to those striving to create positive workplace environments. Health care leaders should take steps to ensure that FENs are treated equitably and that the FEN's perception is one of being treated equitably,” said Franklin A. Shaffer, EdD, RN, FAAN, and CEO, CGFNS International.