Mexico Nurses to be Trained to Work in U.S.

As Border Towns Get More Violent, Mexico Nurses to be Trained to Work in U.S.

By Patricia Giovine

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?Categor ... eId=326919

EL PASO, TEXAS -- Border hospitals' need for health workers who speak Spanish has led the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) to create a program that will prepare foreign professionals to work in the United States.

The program beginning in mid-February seeks to train registered nurses, especially Mexicans, to get the license they need to practice in the United States, UTEP spokeswoman Laura Cruz told Efe.

"The great number of patients at hospitals on the border who speak Spanish must be able to communicate with their health-care providers when they are hospitalized," Cruz said.

"When my dad was admitted to an El Paso hospital, they assigned us a nurse that we at first thought was Mexican and would be somebody we could talk to, but she was from the Philippines and didn't speak Spanish," Leticia Salas for her part told Efe.

The courses, which will begin Feb. 20 and will continue for three months, are designed to prepare these nurses to pass the state licensing exams successfully.

"We want hospitals to make use of the knowledge and abilities of Mexican nurses licensed in their own country, but who live in the United States and are out of work because they lack the degree the state requires," the spokeswoman said.

The university is coordinating the program with the Las Palmas and Del Sol medical centers in El Paso that have given UTEP a fund of $100,000 to provide the course.

For their part, the directors of Del Sol Medical Center said that the program will benefit them a great deal.

"This is planned for nurses who live in the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez (Mexico) area, who intend to remain in the region but have no chance of pursuing their career," the medical center's head of nursing, Cindy Scout, told Efe.

The program also seeks to increase the number of bilingual nurses, a particularly important factor in regions like El Paso, where 75 percent of the population is Hispanic and where many of the residents only speak Spanish.

"These nurses will understand not just the language of those who only speak Spanish, but will also understand the culture of Latinos and, in general, people who live in the area," Scout said.

According to the Texas Nursing Council, in 2008 less than 10 percent of the state's nurses were Hispanic, a number that contrasts greatly with the percentage of Hispanics in the state, which according to census figures is 36 percent.

"A patient under stress because of his illness should be able to communicate verbally and easily with his or her nurse, who is the person closest to them during their stay in the hospital," the director of the UTEP program, Jose Blanco, said. EFE

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"These nurses will understand not just the language of those who only speak Spanish, but will also understand the culture of Latinos and, in general, people who live in the area," Scout said.

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Uh no, a mexican only understands his/her own culture. There is no such thing as latino culture. Each country has its own culture. This sham program is to benefit mexican illegal aliens only. :evil:

Remember the Visa on nurses a while back? Last summer, I believe. Is this what all the fuss was about? I have already experienced foreign rude nurses. What a treat awaiting us, Americans?

No way...too many Americans will be mysteriously dropping dead in hospitals. This culture has no place here.

More jobs to foreign workers while this horse's ass of a congress continues their charade of concern for unemployed Americans..........

Can taxpayers afford to pay their taxes in October 2009? Are the unemployed thinking about all the taxpayers in jail and no government help?

In the meantime, there are not enough open slots in nursing schools for all the Americans who want to study nursing. Why are there spaces available for Mexicans and not Americans?

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The program also seeks to increase the number of bilingual nurses, a particularly important factor in regions like El Paso, where 75 percent of the population is Hispanic and where many of the residents only speak Spanish.

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Yeah, now we have to give illegals free healthcare in their own language.

Have you ever listened to the stories nurses can tell? Doctors and hospitals have been known to be mean to nurses.

Facilitation of the North American Union! If the pace of Hispanic Illegal Immigration is unimpeded only bilingual applicants will be accepted in many, many jobs.

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Originally Posted by miguelina

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"These nurses will understand not just the language of those who only speak Spanish, but will also understand the culture of Latinos and, in general, people who live in the area," Scout said.

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Uh no, a mexican only understands his/her own culture. There is no such thing as latino culture. Each country has its own culture. This sham program is to benefit mexican illegal aliens only. :evil:

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I agree so let those who only speak spanish seek medical treatment across the border in Mexico ! :wink:

Why should we have to provide spanish speaking nurses ??

My American citizen, Texas born daughter wants to be a nurse. Are there any programs to help her pay for school? (Not unless I am a single, Hispanic mother,making less than 40,000 per year)

At least she had 5 years of Spanish in High School so she can understand some of what all her coworkers are talking about....

Texan123:

Please have your daughter to aim to be a doctor. She can always be a nurse then. Many High Schools in my area are offering an assoicate certificate of CNA program via the community college. This would be a great early start into the medical field. Aim High..