28,258 Filipino Nurses Took U.S. Licensure Exam in 2024

Lured by higher salaries and better career prospects, 28,258 nursing graduates from the Philippines took the U.S. licensure examination for the first time in 2024, hoping to secure employment in America, Quezon City Rep. Marvin Rillo said Sunday.

“The number of Philippine-educated nurses seeking to practice their profession in America remains very high, mainly due to insufficient pay here at home,” said Rillo, vice chair of the House committee on higher and technical education.

“We are effectively pushing our nurses away due to low pay,” he added.

Rillo estimated that 54% of first-time test takers from the Philippines passed the U.S. licensure exam, while 36% of repeat examinees succeeded.

Citing data from the U.S. National Council of State Boards of Nursing Inc., he said 5,869 nursing graduates from India also took the exam for the first time in 2024, along with 3,740 from Kenya, 2,662 from Nepal, and 2,636 from South Korea.

Rillo has been advocating for higher wages for Filipino nurses. He authored House Bill No. 5276, which seeks to increase the basic monthly salary of entry-level government nurses by 74% to PHP 70,013 (Salary Grade 21) from the current PHP 40,208 (Salary Grade 15).

In the Senate, Sen. Raffy Tulfo is pushing for Senate Bill No. 2694, which proposes a 40% pay hike, raising entry-level public nurses’ salaries to PHP 56,390 (Salary Grade 19).

Both bills aim to amend the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002.

“Higher pay is still the best strategy for us to retain some of our nurses in the local health sector,” Rillo said.

The Philippines is currently facing a shortage of 127,000 nurses, a number projected to rise to 250,000 by 2030, according to the World Health Organization.