The Philippine Nurses Association of America supports the change of designation from Foreign Graduate Nurse to Registered Nurse Applicant or Graduate Nurse  as it is exactly who they are without subjecting the nurse to undue discrimination from others. In our decades of being part of the healthcare team in the USA, Graduate Nurses from the Philippines have shown dedication, loyalty, excellence in clinical skills, professionalism, leadership, advocacy for their patients, colleagues and community. These nurses have already been screened many times over before they come to the United States, and they take the same qualifying NCLEX examination as their local counterpart. To label them Foreign on their ID on a daily basis is to expose them to unnecessary scrutiny and possible discrimination.

Madelyn Yu MSN, RN                                                                                                                       President, Philippine Nurses Association of America