The Brain Drain to Brain Gain: “Migration of the Nursing and Midwifery Workforce in the State of Kerala”- A WHO study Analysis (Part 1)

Introduction 

The first phase of Brain Drain to Brain Gain, “Migration of Nursing and Midwifery Workforce in the State of Kerala,” focused on the WHO Global Code Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel. The study mainly focused on identifying, collecting, and analyzing the data for the WHO case study about the migration of nurses from India and Kerala in particular. 

The data collected is used to estimate the production, reserve, and migration of nurses from India. Following this process, recommendations were offered by the WHO Global Code.

The prime purpose of the WHO global code is to ensure fair and ethical international recruitment of health workers, which it does by taking account of the rights, obligations, and expectations of source and destination countries. 

The Brain Drain to Brain Gain: “Migration of the Nursing and Midwifery Workforce in the State of Kerala blog will talk about the trends for specific years only with regards to the total number of nurses passed and registered, reserve of nurses in India after migrating to foreign countries. And also, what are the favorable reasons for nurses to migrate from India to foreign countries.

The divisions of data 

Nurse workforce production capacity 

The data was studied based on the production capacity of nurses, stock or reserve of nurses in their home country, and migration of nurses. 

The production capacity for nurses has grown in India and Kerala in particular. In a period from 2005 to 2016, the number of colleges offering degree programmes and masters programmes increased from 12 to 133 and 3 to 67, respectively. 

But the production and seat capacity may not be indicative of the production of nurses in India or Kerala state; rather, the number of registrations is more accurate. In 2016, the seat capacity was 17,600, but the actual registrations were less than 50%, i.e., 9766. This reflects the actual number. 

Nurse workforce reserve in India

Next is the stock/store of nurses in India; the estimated density of stock nurses was 3.16 per 10,000 population in India, and the corresponding figure is 18.5 in Kerala state. These numbers are indicative of how much stock is present in India and Kerala. Kerala is clearly a top-level producer and stockholder of nurses in India. 

Migration of nurse workforce from India

Lastly, the migration of nurses from Kerala in particular and India in general is an old tale. Trends show that nurse migration to popular destinations has declined in general. In 2011, 2013, and 2016, the number of nurses from Kerala working abroad decreased from 30,388 to 26,138 and then to 20,622. 

These numbers show the changing trends in migration. However, there have been changes in places of migration too, which will be discussed in the next part of the analysis. 

Now, let us move on to the reasons for nurse migration to foreign countries: 

Why do nurses from India migrate to foreign countries?

There are several reasons that attract the Indian nursing workforce to migrate around the world. A few are listed here:

1. Improved salaries 
2. Improved working conditions 
3. Job security 
4. Access to better healthcare technologies 
5. Better opportunities for family 

Conclusion

The nurse’s migration from India and Kerala state has been studied based on production, stock, and finally migrating to other countries. The main reason for migration from India to various countries like the UK, Israel, France, and Gulf countries is for a better quality of life for them and their families. If you wish to know about nursing jobs across the world, visit Tera Clinicians. The data for the WHO study is collected from various sources, including migration from India. However, the case study has limitations with respect to data collection and analysis too. 

Reference/Source: Brain drain to brain gain: Migration of nursing and midwifery workforce in the state of Kerala, India. (n.d.). World Health Organization (WHO)

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The Brain Drain to Brain Gain: “Migration of the Nursing and Midwifery Workforce in the State of Kerala” A WHO Study Analysis (Nurse: Migration to Other Countries, Part 2)