Migración internacional de enfermeras/os de América Latina 2010-2019

466 Migración internacional de enfermeras/os de América Latina 2010-2019 Figure 2. Percent of immigrant registered nurses (N = 71,000) by country of birth who worked in the United States, 2018. Figure 2 is a color-coded map that represents the percent of immigrant registered nurses from the Americas by country of birth who worked in the United States in 2018 out of 71,000 registered nur- ses (Batalova, 2020). Of the 71,000 registered nurses, the countries that supplied the greatest pro- portions were Canada and Mexico (i.e., >20), followed by Cuba (i.e., 10% - 20%); Columbia, Brazil, and Dominican Republic (5% - 10%); and Ecuador, Peru, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua (<5%). Conclusions The population of the United States continues to grow at a moderate rate. However, 1 in 10 people live in poverty despite higher education levels than most the countries. While access to health care has improved since the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, health-related mortality continues to be driven by preventable diseases. Nursing in the US is a highly regulated pro- fession in the interest of protecting public safety. One of every six registered nurses is an immigrant, partly reflecting a long-standing shortage of registered nurses in the US. It appears that individual states with large Spanish-speaking communities attract higher proportions of immigrant registered nurses, which may be comprised of nurses from Central and South America. A need exists to better understand and integrate the international mobility and migration of nurses into the strategies and policies that address push and pull factors. Nurses must strengthen their lea-