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)

Introduction 

Nurse is a Latin version of the word “Nutrix,” which means to nourish. Nurses play a big and important role in healthcare settings. They are involved in the promotion of health, prevention of illness, and the care of physically, mentally ill and disabled people. With such an invaluable contribution, they indeed form a pillar of support in the medical community. 

What makes the nursing profession so distinct? 

Few of the reasons for nursing to stand apart include:

1. Nursing is all about caring.
2. The nurse has close personal contact with the patient or recipient.
3. Nurses take care of all forms of human behaviour, including psychological, physiological, and sociological welfare.
4. They are committed to serving people in need of good health, irrespective of colour, creed, social, and economic status. 
5. They are also involved in ethical, legal, and political issues in the delivery of healthcare. 

Why do nurses choose to migrate to other countries?

Realizing what a nurse does for the health of patients, it is imperative to think about how society and the places where they work accept giving them their dues. 

As per the case study ”FROM BRAIN DRAIN TO BRAIN GAIN: Migration of the Nursing and Midwifery Workforce, In the state of Kerala, the nursing profession is in high demand in India as well as in foreign countries. However, nursing professionals have always found better opportunities, education, and quality of life in other countries like Italy, Ireland, Canada, and Gulf countries. This is the main reason why they choose to migrate to other countries.

Factors Influencing migration 

The study highlights the main factors contributing to the migration of nurses to other countries. 

Favorable and main factors include:

1. High income in migrated countries
2. Poor working conditions in home country
3. Limited opportunities for growth and education 
4. There are fewer chances of promotions and a dissatisfying career path.

Apart from this, other additional factors outside of professional life also played a very important role in why the nurses chose to migrate to foreign countries. 

These additional factors include:

1. Having relatives and networks in the destination countries who can offer information on professional opportunities and support during migration
2. Another factor is the policies of the immigration country for the migrant workforce and strategies to retain them. 

Even after having clear pros and cons of the migration of nurses from India to foreign countries, the decision-making process for nurses is still a very complicated one. Which can only be understood and decided upon by a nurse. 

Trends in migration of nursing professionals  

We now know the reasons and discussion of how and why a nurse chooses to migrate to foreign countries. Besides, there is a change in trends in choosing the right country. It is influenced by both the personal and professional lives of a nurse. 

The trends in the migration of nursing professionals are ever changing and versatile. Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia in 2011 accounted for 30.5% of nurses from Kerala, which changed to 18.5% in 2013 and 20.17% in 2016. Though these numbers have fluctuated, the number of nurses going to Gulf countries is still higher than when compared to other countries. And when we look at western countries like the UK and USA, we see a decline in emigrant nurses, especially from Kerala. On the other side, countries like Australia and Canada showed an increase in the emigration of nursing professionals. Other desirable destination countries as per the KMS (Kerala migration survey, 2016) include Singapore, Italy, and Canada. 

These shifts and changes in the destination countries can be due to changes in the migration policies of the destination countries. The policies have an impact on both the personal and professional lives of nurses. Policies are usually influenced by decisions about the immigration status of spouses and children. For example, in a study done to know the retention reasons of trained health workers in Ireland, they said the migration policies are more favourable and friendly, especially for children who are aged above 18 years and adults in Canada, than other places.

Conclusion 

The nursing profession and nurses are integral parts of the medical framework around the globe. They not only add irreplaceable value to our health maintenance but also play a role in sustaining our overall health. The working conditions for nurses are deciding factors in what they choose to do. It will pave the way for how they pursue their profession. 

The migration of nurses is strongly linked to the professional choice of work they would take up. There are plenty of options when migrating to foreign countries. The factors, trends, and views in this blog are indicators of how and why nurses have preferred moving to foreign countries from their home countries.

Reference/Source:

1. Vandali, Vijayaraddi. (2017). The Nursing Profession: A Review. International Journal of Nursing Education and Research, 5, 444. 10.5958/2454-2660.2017.00095.3. 
2. Brain drain to brain gain: migration of the nursing and midwifery workforce in the state of Kerala, India. (n.d.). World Health Organization (WHO). https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/2017-healthworker-migration-kerala