Impact of Nursing Migration on International Healthcare

Running Head: IMPACT OF NURSING MIGRATION ON INTERNATIONAL HEALTHCARE
IMPACT OF NURSING MIGRATION ON INTERNATIONAL HEALTHCARE
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1IMPACT OF NURSING MIGRATION ON INTERNATIONAL HEALTHCARE
Introduction:
The research provided in the Global Health Study clearly confirms the causal correlation between
good health effects and the number of health care practitioners. The research illustrates the challenge in
meeting goals when significant shortages in staff are faced by health departments (Aluttis, Bishaw and
Frank, 2014). Countries with the greatest difficulties in achieving the United Nations Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) face utter deficits in their health workers, severely restricting their ability to
react equitably even to critical health needs. Foreign recruiting and relocation of health care workers
impacting the availability of national workforce is also a significant topic in the policy agenda (Masselink
and Jones, 2014). Nursing is primarily defined as a mobile occupation. In search of better pay and
working conditions, job growth, professional development, better quality of life, personal safety, or
sometimes just news and excitement, thousands of nurses, including the vast majority of them women, are
expected to relocate. This essay discusses nurse migration flows in view of the imbalances in the national
nursing population, investigates conditions that promote or hinder nurse mobility, and addresses the
potential benefits of circular migration (Li, Nie and Li, 2014).
Discussion:
Factors influencing Nursing Migration:
Global nursing shortages (Walani, 2015) are not the sole determinant of why nurses enter the
process of migration and the underlying reasons are complicated. Nurses are pushed to migrate by their
countries of origin and pulled by the recipient countries. The recipient countries 'conditions reflect a pull
factor as they draw and promote nurses' movement towards that country. Under-standard conditions or
circumstances in the home (source) country encourage nurses to leave their country or workplace, and
thus represent the push factors. The existence of positions, educational or career growth prospects (Ramji
and Etowa, 2014), personal progress, appreciation of clinical skills, a supportive work climate, responsive

2IMPACT OF NURSING MIGRATION ON INTERNATIONAL HEALTHCARE
workplace policy, secure socio-political conditions, quality of life, competitive salaries and social and
retirement benefits are some of the pull factors enticing nurses to the applicant. The International Center
on Nurse Migration indicated that the primary triggers of migration ('push' factors) derive from a need for
more resources for career advancement, a demand for better pay rewards and, in certain situations, a need
for personal protection due to political instability. The following trigger factors lead to nurse migration in
the source country: low wage pay, limited job prospects, limited educational opportunities, lack of
productive working facilities, insecure and/or unsafe working environments, lack of social and/or
retirement security, an unsatisfactory or dysfunctional political climate, and HIV / AIDS prevalence. It is
a mixture of both the push and pulls forces that cause the exodus of foreign nurses. Nurses from
developing countries with reduced levels of pay (push factor) would be drawn to wealthier countries with
better salaries and larger opportunities for workers (pull factors). In addition, recipient nation enticing
recruiting approaches increase pulling power.
Impact of Nursing Migration on International Healthcare system:
Currently, the number of foreign-educated doctors employed in Australia, Canada, the United
Kingdom, and the United States is estimated to be between 21 and 33 percent, whereas foreign-educated
nurses constitute 5–10 percent of the nursing population in these nations. New Zealand estimates that it
has recruited 21 per cent of its nurses overseas, a substantial improvement in the past decade. Thirty
percent of working registered nurses in Switzerland are internationally trained and 70 percent of new
hires in at least one university hospital are from overseas. Global nurse movement (Goh and Lopez, 2016)
has historically proven to be a North – North or South – South trend, e.g., Irish nurses working in the UK,
Canadian nurses serving in the United States, Fijian nurses commuting to Palau. However, the fast growth
in international recruitment from developing countries to industrialized countries has in recent years
gained the most media and political attention. There is a global nursing shortage at the moment;
developed countries are experiencing a lack of nursing staff, with almost all countries dependent on
nurses from overseas to alleviate the problem. Nurses are one of the health-care workforce's main