Nurses asked to beware of fake U.S. jobs.

Now, nursing jobs are simply not there for thousands of Filipinos hopeful of going to the United States.

Dean Josefina Tuazon of the University of the Philippines Manila-College of Nursing said that the US still needs nurses but it is not giving out visas for nurses now. It needs to legislate to provide additional work-related permanent visas for nurses, she said.

Observers believe that visas for foreign-trained nurses will be issued again next year after the US Congress, upon urging of patients and health care industry, will approve the quota for foreign-trained nurses that have already been filled.

She said tat in spite of the fact that US still needs more nurses, in view of the recent US recession and financial crisis, working nurses are currently putting in additional hours while others are going back to nursing, thus local nurses are filling local demand.

Tuazon said that for the first time, Canada is aggressively recruiting Filipino nurses to an extent of even going there for direct hiring. A boom is ongoing and Canada needs to populate and provide nursing facilities to remote and rural areas there, she explains.

At present, the Philippines through the Department of Labour and Employment, has a Memorandum of Agreement with the Canadian provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. Last month, Saskatchewan invited a Philippine delegation in order to discuss the terms of the agreement for more ethical recruitment and assistance to the source country.

Tuazon said that each province has different terms of contract and potential recruits should check it.