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There’s a critical lack of nursing professionals in the United States healthcare system, which has forced the country to navigate what has turned into a long-term structural shift. As this healthcare staffing shortage widens, many organizations have turned to international nursing recruitment as a core part of their workforce strategy.
However, hiring international workers isn’t a quick fix. It’s a multiyear investment that only pays off if those nurses and other clinicians are successfully supported once they arrive in the U.S.
Recent data suggests that national registered nurse (RN) turnover was around 16% in 2024, with hospitals hiring roughly 385,000 RNs just to maintain staffing levels. At the same time, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a need for more than 275,000 additional nurses by 2030. Domestic supply alone cannot close this gap.
With international recruitment becoming essential, many organizations are finding that the real challenge isn’t hiring people, but what comes in the first weeks and months: housing, orientation, and support. This can make or break whether the investment leads to long-term retention or early attrition.
Key Takeaways:
Healthcare organizations are using a variety of visa pathways to bring international nurses to the U.S. Each one has its own timelines and operational implications.
The most common is the EB-3 Schedule A visa, which allows employers to sponsor registered nurses for permanent residence. Because nursing is designated as a shortage occupation, employers can often bypass traditional labor certification. The problem is that processing times can take between 18 and 30 months, which means an organization must invest long before a nurse arrives.
Another option is the TN visa, which sources nurses from Canada and Mexico. It’s a faster alternative for facilities that need more immediate staffing. Processing times can be as short as six months with no annual cap.
Some organizations, especially academic medical centers and nonprofits, use the cap-exempt H-1B visa for specialty roles. They can take six to 12 months, but they do come with specific eligibility requirements.
Recent policy changes also impact timelines. The new $100,000 H-1B fee introduced in September 2025 has led to ongoing EB-3 backlogs, which means organizations must plan even further ahead
Note: Visa requirements and timelines are subject to change. Your organization should consult qualified immigration counsel for current guidance.
Even after months —and sometimes years —of preparation, internationally recruited nurses don’t start work on day one. Credentialing, NCLEX completion, state licensure, and facility-specific onboarding can take weeks to months. During that time, a nurse needs stable, comfortable housing. This is where some organizations run into trouble.
Nurses who arrive in the U.S. with no clear housing options, inconsistent onboarding, or logistical confusion are far more likely to struggle or even leave. This type of friction can undo 18 to 30 months of investment.
Providing temporary housing for healthcare workers is often overlooked, but it is essential during the transition process. Nurses should have a reliable place to live that’s ready on day one, even before they begin earning at full capacity.
Internally, human resources (HR) teams that manage your nurse onboarding program need a functional workspace to coordinate orientation, documentation, and training. That type of infrastructure is often improvised, creating inefficiencies at exactly the moment when coordination matters the most.
Those first few weeks are an opportunity to make a good first impression and send a clear message. Organizations that provide a structured, supportive arrival experience are also more likely to retain international—and even domestic—staff and build a reputation that strengthens future recruitment efforts.
When navigating international recruitment, CORT can help address this challenge directly.
CORT provides fully furnished housing—delivered within 48 hours nationwide with flexible lease terms—so that an internationally recruited nurse can walk into a space that’s ready to live in from day one. Beds, furniture, housewares, and everything else necessary to feel comfortable and settled are already in place. There’s no need for a hotel, temporary fixes, or scrambling to put something together.
Leases allow you to scale and match housing needs to your timeline, whether it’s for a nurse in a month-long credentialing window, a six-month TN contract, or a multiyear EB-3 placement. It’s also a partnership that creates operational simplicity. Through one single vendor, one point of contact, and one billing contract, you can provide consistent furnishings across multiple placements and locations. Nationwide coverage also means support across virtually any market in the U.S. for international and traveling nurses.
International recruitment programs create a significant demand for an administrative workplace that aligns with your onboarding, credentialing, and training needs. During high-volume recruitment cycles, these needs can spike quickly, and your HR and operations teams may find themselves managing new staffers without the space to support them.
That’s where CORT’s Furniture-as-a-Service (FaaS) comes into play.
Instead of investing in permanent infrastructure, office furniture rental allows you to scale your workspace up or down as need, creating fully-equipped yet temporary training rooms, onboarding centers, and administrative offices without a major commitment
For staffing agencies opening new regional offices or testing new markets, this level of flexibility is critical. Workspaces can be deployed quickly, adjusted as placement volume changes, and removed when no longer needed. This supports the people managing the process, making it easier to participate in complex international recruitment programs.
International nurse recruitment is a significant investment, and its success depends on what happens after the hire. Explore how CORT and Furniture-as-a-Service model help healthcare organizations support internationally recruited staff from day one, reduce early attrition, and build the infrastructure that makes global staffing programs work. Visit cort.com today.
