| Learning Objective #1: Understand the reason for, and the extent of, nurse recruitment in less affluent, developing countries by more affluent developed countries | |||
| Learning Objective #2: Understand the impact that the recruitment of nurses in developing countries by developed countries has on the already struggling healthcare systems of these less affluent countries |
I. Objectives: 1.) to gather information about the nursing shortage around the world; 2.) to identify the degree to which nurse recruitment abroad is being employed to address the nursing shortage; and 3.) to assess the impact nurse recruitment is having on the healthcare systems of those countries losing nurses to emigration.
II. Design: This is an exploratory study designed to gather both empirical and descriptive information through a mail survey.
III. Population, Sample, Years: 295 nurse unions and associations in 106 countries were sent a mail survey. Responses were received from 105 nurse organizations in 76 countries in 2001.
IV. Concepts or Variables Studied: The key variables examined in this study were the degree to which a country was experiencing a nurse shortage, the extent of nurse recruitment by foreign countries, and the extent of nurse emigration.
V. Methods: Information was gathered through a mail survey. The questionnaire was reviewed by representatives of numerous national and international nurse organizations. Follow-up interviews were also conducted.
VI. Findings and Conclusions: Ninety nurses’ organizations, representing 69 nations and every geographic region of the world, reported nurse shortages in their countries. This suggests that the nursing shortage is a worldwide phenomenon. Forty-four nurses’ associations and unions in 31 countries reported that the outflow of nurses to other countries was a serious to extremely serious problem. Followup interviews with nurse organizations in countries experiencing significant nurse emigration suggest this phenomenon is negatively impacting the quality of healthcare in those countries.
VII. Implications—This study provides some of the first systematic evidence that the nursing shortage is a global phenomenon and that the practice of recruiting nurses from abroad is having a negative impact on the quality of healthcare in countries losing nurses to emigration. This raises questions about the ethics of nurse recruitment abroad.
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Back to 14th International Nursing Research Congress
Sigma Theta Tau International
10-12 July 2003