The Hindu : Front Page : Opportunities beckon nurses

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 30, 2006

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Opportunities beckon nurses

Ramya Kannan

— Photo: K. Pichumani

Mendel Zilberberg interacting with nurses in Chennai on Thursday.

CHENNAI: Did you know it is easier for nurses to get a Green Card — permanent residence status — in the United States than it is for software engineers?

With over 1,40,000 nursing positions vacant in health institutions in the U.S., it seems the best way to grow roots in that country is to train to be a nurse.

Mendel Zilberberg, president and chief executive officer, Brookwood Staffing Agency, certainly believes so. Which is why he started an Indian affiliate — Global Strategic Staffing Solutions — to take care of the Indian side of the operations.

Brookwood and GS3 together aim at finding the right position in the U.S. for nurses from India. In Chennai on a brief visit, he has come armed with over 300 letters of intent from American health institutions. Statistics show that in 15 years, the shortage will increase to about 8,00,000 nurses, Mr. Zilberberg says. The average age of nurses currently employed in the U.S. is 48.

On Thursday, GSSS organised a get-together for students of nursing in the city to orient them towards opportunities in the U.S. About 400 nurses, both male and female, participated in the event that was held at the Chennai Trade Centre.

Merely training to be a nurse is not sufficient to take one to the U.S. In addition to clearing the prescribed nursing course, aspirants have to take CGFNS, NCLEX and the mandatory English test, IELTS. Even trained nurses sometimes have problems getting through some of these tests, especially the language one.

"We train them to pass the test, organise a review course, facilitate interviews with prospective employers, help with the immigration process and sponsorship in the U.S.," Mr. Zilberberg says.

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