Cyclical nursing shortages have significantly affected the nursing profession in the United Stated over five decades, thereby limiting the availability of diverse health care professionals. Retention and ethnic diversity are characteristics necessary for the workplace to ensure that the needs of an increasingly diverse population are met. This study investigated the retention and ethnic diversity of nurses from other countries and the impact on the nursing shortage. Nurses from the Philippines who migrated to the United States from 1965 through 1985 were selected for this examination. Within this timeframe, the Philippines supplied the largest group of migrant nurses working in the American nursing system through mass migration. Nurses from California, Washington, Ohio, and Florida participated in surveys and interviews in order to establish an historical framework of events. These activities, supplemented by oral histories and archival records, provided the data indicating a connection between the cultural phenomena of Filipino nurse participant’s perspectives, expectations, and experiences of migration to the United States, to determine how and why they remained in the American nursing system. An analysis of this data suggested that both the existence of family and hospital assistance helped the population of Filipino nurses who remained in the American system. Mentoring can be used as an approach for attracting and retaining racial and ethnically diverse nursing students and practicing nurses by meeting their personal and professional needs. Mentors, including professional nurse mentors, faculty mentors, and peer mentors, must be available to prospective and existing nurses at all stages, from recruitment, career development, and throughout the retirement process.