I fully support the petition to amend the regulation to change the designation of “Foreign Graduate Nurse” to “RN Applicant“ on name tags or when signing official records just like their American counterparts.

Marking individuals as “Foreign Graduate Nurse” increases their potential of becoming a target of unwarranted discrimination from employers, co-workers, and patients. Discrimination, as defined in the dictionary, is: “the practice of unfairly treating a person or group of people differently from other people or groups of people.” Labeling RN Applicants based on their nationality (i.e. Foreign Graduate Nurse) can be construed as discriminatory.  Foreign educated nurses in the U.S. are already subjected to various stressors – getting used to a different language, adapting to an unfamiliar culture, and being a long way from home.  Adding an extremely adverse element – discrimination, can negatively impact their work performance and they may exhibit poorer physical and psychological health.

The significance of a non-discriminatory stance regarding RN Applicants, both foreign and domestic, is paramount in creating inclusiveness.

Maureen Manuel