Believe me, if you started deporting foreign nurses, you'd see hospitals closing beds by the dozenPlenty of nurses have left, and continue to leave, the profession for better paying jobs that require less skill and education than that of an RN. I can't give you statistics, but I know two personally.
Like you I know of many nurses who have left that profession becuase of the relatively low pay and the horrendous working conditions. Further if there are good paying jobs available people will move to fill that void.