Manila’s international airport is always bustling, with its clusters of nurses checking in with passports in hand as if they were preparing for a holiday. Their conversation sparks life into the airport by discussing new uniforms and colder climates. As they head towards the departure gate, the rest of the world remains oblivious that they are en route to destinations rich in economic potential but devoid of human warmth. This narrative explains why the Philippines has become the most prominent exporter of trained nurses. The statistics are remarkable. In the United Kingdom, the number of Filipino-educated nurses is now over 50,000, which makes them the second largest group of foreign-trained staff in the country, as registered by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
Filipino workers are estimated to be around 130,000 in Saudi Arabia. The figure is striking for Saudi Arabia. The United States remains an especially bright magnet: In 2024, 28,258 Filipino graduates of nursing programs took the NCLEX for the first time, and this one-year figure is greater than the entire nursing workforce of some small countries. According to historians, the cumulative number of exam takers is already reaching 150,000 and counting, as Filipino nurses continue to settle and work across the United States. Time Moreover, new countries are emerging as destinations, from German care homes to the Canadian provincial health systems, proving that Philippine nurses truly are “caring for the world.” What accounts for this significant exodus? The answer is a mixture of factors, both negative and positive. Hospitals overseas dangle paychecks that are 6 to 8 times more than what nurses would be paid at home. The Department of Health (DOH) has stated that limited funding within local wards poses significant challenges for career advancement within the profession.
Thus, it is unsurprising that approximately 51% of Filipino nurses have been licensed in the Philippines and migrated overseas, translating to an estimated 316,000 professionals. Aside from a bigger paycheck, they also receive better equipment, school schedules, work hours, and a pathway to citizenship. However, while this might be considered the proverbial cherry to this success story, this creates a painful void at home. Congressional hearings and data from the health department reveal that the country currently faces a shortage of 127,000 nurses. In many hospitals located in the provincial area, a nurse single-handedly is responsible for 40 to 60 patients in one shift. Some smaller clinics open earlier because they do not have adequate staff. With the nurses deciding to remain, they must endure extra work, which increases their chances of getting burned or falling ill. This shortage of nurses significantly affects the patients as well, since it delays scheduled surgeries and stalls basic health programs.
Families also make silent sacrifices. Migrant nurse workers enable school fees to be paid, homes to be built, and relatives to be lifted out of poverty through remittances. However, the warmth of a parent’s hug is now replaced with video calls. Children are familiar with seeing one parent abroad, and aging parents attend check-ups without their nurse sons or daughters in sight.
All these expenses are emotional in nature and do not appear in financial documents yet still impact households throughout the entire archipelago. Where can solutions be offered? To improve nurse retention, they must be paid where they currently work. This means supporting increasing base salaries. However, this must be paired with changes to improve working conditions. There also needs to be proper nurse-to-patient ratios, modern supplies, and financially supported policy pathways for nurse training. Secondly, other countries should adopt ethical policies that govern the hiring process. Policies that publish pay rates, guarantee equitable contracts, and endorse Philippine nursing institutions stand to tackle the issue of brain drain. Lastly, bilateral return agreements can allow overseas experience circulation for a designated time.
After which, participants can gain experience while holding scholarships or senior roles. There are agreements with Japan for care workers and expanding them to nurses demonstrates that migration can benefit both parties. In closing, young Filipinos need to envision a future for nursing within the confines of their borders. Nurses are a prerequisite in community health projects, school clinics, and the expansion of primary care. These sectors’ investment can significantly increase public health and create thousands of meaningful jobs and employment in the country, an actual win-win scenario the government needs.
Filipino nurses have been staffing gap facilities from Riyadh to London and Los Angeles for decades. These individuals are filled with an abundance of skill, compassion, and patience, and in return for their services, they are greatly underappreciated. Policymakers need to consider providing more than just gratitude; it is time to return to national well-being as communities shift away from the global opportunity. The Philippines owes it to its people to provide nurses opportunities at home, while also allowing them to showcase their capabilities abroad. Only then can they prove caring for the world doesn’t mean abandoning home in the long term.
Daily airport departures will remain, but they can now be countered with cheerful return trips balanced by fortified hospitals and enhanced national health.
References:
Al Jazeera. (2023, July 25). Philippines to lower bar for nurses as low pay drives many abroad. https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2023/7/25/philippines-mulls-unlicensed-nurses-as-low-pay-fuels-brain-drain Al Jazeera
Arab News. (2024, September 4). Filipino nurses advance careers, enhance skills in Saudi hospitals. https://www.arabnews.com/node/2570051/world Arab News
Cebu Daily News. (2025, January 26). 28,000 Filipino nurses took licensure tests in the U.S. in 2024. https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/619529/28000-filipino-nurses-took-licensure-tests-in-the-u-s-in-2024 Cebu Daily News
Manila Standard. (2025, February 18). PH faces shortage of nurses, solon warns. https://manilastandard.net/news/314542714/ph-faces-shortage-of-nurses-solon-warns.html Manila Standard
Nursing and Midwifery Council. (2024, December 2). Nursing and midwifery register grows but pace of international nurse recruitment slows. https://www.nmc.org.uk/news/news-and-updates/nursing-and-midwifery-register-grows-but-pace-of-international-nurse-recruitment-slows Nursing & Midwifery Council
TIME Magazine. (2021, May 30). From AIDS to COVID-19, America’s medical system has a long history of relying on Filipino nurses to fight on the frontlines. https://time.com/6051754/history-filipino-nurses-us/
