Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Beginning in 2001, U.S. health care facilities have begun recruiting from the Philippines due to a national shortage of registered nurses which is anticipated to decline 20% below the national requirements by 2020. This paper examines the experiences of recently recruited nurses from the Philippines and how they internalize their discursive constructions as “ideal” nurses for global workplaces and as the “new aristocrats” of the Philippine state. I explore how these nurses utilize these constructions as a form of cultural capital as immigrants and potential American citizens. I argue that while the discursive constructions have potential for creating exploitative working situations, Filipinos draw from them as a source of cultural capital and as a coping and survival strategy in an intimidating work environment as they deal with multiple social and institutional barriers in a foreign workplace. I also discuss the complexities of such internalization within the context of embracing their newfound class identity and their pursuit of the “American Dream.” This paper is based on in-depth interviews of nurses working in Texas and Arizona between 2004-06 and are on two-year renewable contracts and EB-3 visas.