The Fragility of the Global Nurse Supply Chain
Updated at 9:15 a.m. ET on May 2, 2020.
Daisy Doronila’s journey to the United States was, in many ways, typical of a nurse from the Philippines. The youngest of five, she first left her home country to work in Abu Dhabi, where one of her sisters was employed at a bank, before making her way to California in 1990. There, she cared for patients at the Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, a troubled facility that served the poorest residents of South Los Angeles, then worked at a juvenile-detention facility. Later, she moved east, taking a position at Hudson County Correctional Center in New Jersey. The jobs were all challenging, but Doronila sought out the less fortunate.*
Health-care systems in developed countries lean heavily on people such as Doronila—immigrant workers, many from poorer nations—to keep themselves running. Figures from New American Economy, a research and advocacy organization, show that , with even greater representation in specific fields such as home health aid, where nearly
You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.
Start your free 30 days