A lot of Filipinos have inevitably embraced the healthcare worker stereotype.

In fact, every Filipino clan you may know has at least one medical professional. In your own family, you may have one or three nurses among your relatives or loved ones. It’s probably what your parents wanted you to do, too. 

Filipino nurses have been a vital part of the American healthcare system for as long as we can remember. Today, they represent 4% of the total US nursing workforce–yet from this number, not all of them are receiving the right kind of support and care. 

Ironic how we’re not giving the same care to our caregivers, who have sacrificed much of their time and resources to treat the sick.  

How the stereotype came to be

While colonizing the Philippines at the end of the Spanish-American war, the United States claimed that the American takeover was a “benevolent assimilation”--a ploy designed to ease the transition of power and win over the Filipino people. The act of putting up Westernized hospitals, medical systems, and nursing schools–initially as a means to prevent the spread of post-war disease–was an attempt at benevolence. “Part of the justification of Americans being in the Philippines was because they were ‘civilized,’ and Filipinos were ’uncivilized’,”  Catherine Ceniza Choy, author of Empire of Care: Nursing and Migration in Filipino American History, stated. 

Soon after, groups of Filipino nurses were sent to the U.S. to advance their training–inevitably creating a semblance of prestige and socioeconomic advancement, especially after being able to practice in America. These trained nurses went back to the Philippines, replacing American trainers and faculty at the nursing schools. 

By 1948, the U.S. government established the Exchange Visitor Program (EVP), granting non-Americans access to study and work in America for two years. Inadvertently, the EVP was also a means to instill American culture and ideology in the participants and bring these mindsets back to their home countries. Around this time, nursing shortages in the U.S. ran rampant after World War II, with American nurses quitting their jobs due to deplorable conditions and low wages. The EVP then became a way for the U.S. government to fill the staffing shortage, sponsoring Filipino nurses to fill the gaps. By the 1960s, the Philippines became what TIME Magazine called “the global leader in exporting nurses to the U.S.”

The fight for safe and proper staffing

Staffing shortages are still a major concern in American hospitals, even today.

On January 9th, over 7,000 nurses from two major New York City hospitals went on strike due to a lack of staffing–affecting 1,000 Filipino and Filipino-American nurses within the state. “This is about safe staffing,” Lorena Vivas of the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) said. “We want to ensure that we will work with enough staff.” 

Legally, nurses are only supposed to care for two patients at a time. Due to the staffing shortage, the patient-to-nurse ratio doubled. To fill the gaps, healthcare workers work shifts of more than twenty-four hours. Special unit nurses, on the other hand, are expected to care for three to four critically-ill patients at a time, instead of the mandated one or two. 

The strike ended on January 12th, with the hospitals promising improved working conditions and a 19% pay increase. But the demonstrations exposed a critical problem in the healthcare system: our nurses are overworked, facing greater risks, and are in need of your support.

How you can care for our caregivers

We invite you to support our initiatives that help shed light on our healthcare workers’ narratives and highlight their important contributions to the American healthcare system.

Nurse Unseen is a Filipino-American documentary that uncovers the stories of Filipino healthcare workers, especially during and after the height of the pandemic. The filmmakers behind the documentary are still raising funds to complete the film. You may show your support by visiting the Nurse Unseen official website. 

In partnership with Kumu, we are also holding auditions for healthcare workers at the first-ever Healthcareoke! Here’s how you can audition:

1. Sign up here and join our info session on how to audition

2. Record a video introducing yourself: your name, what you do in healthcare, and sing your favorite karaoke song.

3. Post the video on social media (FB, IG, and TikTok) with the hashtag #Healthcareoke. Don’t forget to add your Kumu username and tag @kumu_usa and @onedown.media.

Visit the official Instagram to know how you can join.  

Our Filipino nurses deserve better. It’s time they get their stories heard.