Purpose: Transition experiences are shared by all human beings across all developmental stages and are an appropriate concern for nursing. Health for migrant farmworker women has been inadequately addressed in the literature. The purpose of this investigation was to explore conceptualizations of health with Mexican and Mexican American migrant farmworker women during a migration experience.

Methods: Utilizing a qualitative descriptive method, semistructured interviews were conducted in the homes of 21 women who were migrating from Texas and Mexico to the northern Great Lakes region of the United States.

Findings: Content analysis lead to identification of themes reflecting a unique and complex transition experience. Narratives illustrated the importance women placed on transition patterns, properties, markers; personal identities; and gender-related constraints. Respect, relationship, and resources were identified as community and societal factors contributing to a healthy transition experience.  

Conclusions: Effective and efficient health care interventions are dependent on accurate knowledge from a client perspective. These findings contribute to an understanding of health for this population of underserved women and advances knowledge of transition theory. Awareness of how health is contextualized during migration is particularly relevant for nurses and other health care providers and can provide knowledge for the development of interventions that facilitate healthy transition responses for migrant women.