Foreign-born nurses in the US labor market

This paper examines immigration and the wages of foreign and native nurses in the US labor market. Data from the Current Population Survey identifies a worker's country of birth and the National Survey of Registered Nurses (NSRN) identifies nurses who received their basic training outside the US. In 2004 about 3.1% of the registered nurse (RN) workforce is foreign-born non-US citizens, and 3.3% received their basic education elsewhere. The principal countries of origin are the Philippines, Canada, India, and England. Regression results show a 4.5% lower wage for non-citizen nurses born outside of the US (Canadian nurses are an exception). The wage disadvantage is concentrated on foreign-born nurses new to the US; once a nurse has been in the US for 6 years there is no longer a significant penalty. Results from the NSRN show relatively little overall wage differences between RNs who received their basic training outside versus inside the US, but there is a significant wage disadvantage for those new to the US market. The presence of foreign-trained nurses appears to decrease earnings for native RNs, but the effects are small.