Nurses flock to the United States in search of better conditions and pay

Many Korean nurses pursue their careers in the U.S. because of home-field disadvantages. Exhausted by heavy workloads and low wages in Korean hospitals, Korean nurses are searching for better work environments and treatment.

Nurses take care of patients at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital in Gyeonggi on Dec. 8. [JOONGANG PHOTO]

Many Korean nurses pursue their careers in the U.S. because of home-field disadvantages.

The recent exodus of nurses raises concern as the country faces a shortage of medical professionals.

Burnout from the Covid-19 pandemic has also driven many nurses to leave the profession.

Exhausted by heavy workloads and low wages in Korean hospitals, Korean nurses are searching for better work environments and treatment.

A Korean nurse with 15 years of experience — identified by her family name of Lee — recently took the U.S. nursing license exam in Osaka, Japan. She works at a university hospital in Seoul.

“[In Korea,] paychecks for nurses are not enough while the labor is intense,” Lee said. “I studied hard for the exam as I could no longer survive in my current working environment.”

Lee has spent 650,000 won ($508) taking the test.

However, her expenses exceeded 1.5 million won, including the flight tickets she purchased to take the exam abroad.

Applicants like Lee must travel abroad to take the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX), as no testing centers exist in Korea.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare on Wednesday, 8,350 Korean nurses have prepared to relocate to the United States in the last two years.

The first step these nurses took was requesting a nursing license in English.

Some 4,443 nurses applied for the English license last year.

Until Dec. 20, 3,907 nurses had applied for English licenses.

Upon the request, the Ministry of Health and Welfare seals the issued license and sends it to overseas local authorities such as the New York State Education Department.

“The ministry helps documentation and mailing processes for the nurses who want to continue their careers in the United States,” a ministry official said.

Nurses who are members of the Korean Nursing Association protest against the presidential veto of the Nursing Act, which included improved working conditions for nurses, in central Seoul on May 19. [NEWS1]

Nearly three-quarters of the nurses thought about changing their jobs in the last three months, according to a survey by the Korean Health & Medical Workers' Union in May.

Some 43.2 percent attributed their consideration to “heavy workload and poor working conditions,” and other 29.4 percent picked “inadequate rewards” as a reason.

U.S. hospitals have better working conditions and pay higher salaries than Korean hospitals.

“U.S. nurses work three days a week with each shift lasting 12 hours,” one Korean nurse who has been working at a U.S. hospital for five years said.

“Nurses can maintain a healthy work-life balance here. Especially, the majority of nurses from Korea are satisfied with their work,” she added.

An official from the Korean Nursing Association said it was an easy choice for nurses to work in the United States because “salaries for the U.S. nurses are on a different level and their working conditions are better than in Korea."

As nurses flock to the United States, the government is preparing to increase the enrollment quota at nursing schools and colleges.

Students at the College of Nursing at Ajou University take the Florence Nightingale Pledge in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on Nov. 15. [YONHAP]

The government has been increasing the quota by 700 students yearly since 2019.

However, it is not enough to solve the nursing shortage.

Korea will need an extra 56,000 nurses by 2035 when their work intensity is lowered to 80 percent of today’s.

“The ministry plans to hike the admission quota by an additional 1,000 students from the 2025 academic year,” an official from the Ministry of Health and Welfare said.

“The ministry will confirm the quota by early next year,” the official added.

Nursing colleges nationwide accepted 23,183 students for the 2023 academic year.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Korea has only 4.4 clinical nurses per 1,000 people.

The ratio is far lower than the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development average of 8 nurses per 1,000 people in 2020.

“Even though the quota has been raised by 700 students annually, countless nurses leave the hospital or health care front lines. It is like pouring a new workforce into a bottomless pit,” the Korean Nursing Association official said.

“Hospitals with relatively good treatment and reward systems are concentrated in the greater Seoul areas, and the rural medical shortages are growing serious.”

BY CHAE HYE-SEON, LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]