Nurses' experiences of recruitment and migration from developing countries: a phenomenological approach

A purposive sample of 12 directors of nursing, from major academic teaching hospitals in Dublin and hospitals in South Africa and the Philippines were recruited. Ten overseas nurses were also recruited. A phenomenological approach was used with semi-structured interviews as the data collection method.There were pronounced differences in opinions between the Irish and the overseas directors on recruitment and its effects on the health systems of the source countries. Difficulties in the retention of staff were highlighted by both groups of directors. Other findings included the language and cultural differences experienced by the overseas nurses.Recruitment of overseas nurses should not be left to the individual employer even in the presence of government guidelines. An international effort from all the involved parties is required to formulate a solution to this complex issue in order to protect both the health systems of individual countries and the nurse's right to migrate.Although nurse migration is not a new phenomenon, the current rates of flow are unprecedented. It is difficult to accurately assess the true level of migration [1]. In many countries registration data is used as a source of statistics. In 2004, 1018 new nurses from outside the European Union registered in Ireland. Of these, 603 (59%) were from India, 267 (26%) from the Philippines, and 46 (5%) from South Africa [2].Until recent years, Ireland had an oversupply of nurses [3]. However, the recent economic growth from the mid 1990s to the present day has resulted in the expansion of jobs for nurses in Ireland, so much so, that the number of jobs exceeded the domestic supply of employed nurses [4]. Ireland now actively recruits nurses from overseas. Initially, this trend was indicative of migration from 'high-income to high-income' country, although in 2000 migration from 'low and middle-income to high income' country became increasingly important. This change was due to the Irish government's inter