Motivations, Beliefs, and Expectations of Spanish Nurses Planning Migration for Economic Reasons: A Cross‐Sectional, Web‐Based Survey

Abstract

Purpose Migration of nurses is not a new or recent event. During the past few decades, nursing migration flows have been a constant trend worldwide. The main objective of this study was to explore the motivations, beliefs, and expectations that Spanish nurses had when considering migration to another country in the near future. Design Cross‐sectional, Internet survey of Spanish nurses planning migration for professional reasons. Methods Ad hoc, web‐based questionnaire following the Nurses Early Exit Study guidelines. Findings One hundred seventy‐two nurses responded. Fifty percent of the participants intended to emigrate in the following 6 months and had chosen the United Kingdom as their destination. The most important drivers of migration were unemployment or precarious employment, and professional development. Fifty‐eight percent of the participants were very afraid of experiencing discrimination or rejection. Conclusions This first study conducted in Spain directly exploring determinants of nurse migration highlighted globalization‐driven factors and specific acculturation fears. Clinical Relevance Employment uncertainty and professional development remain key push drivers for migration of Spanish nurses. Discrimination and rejection due to migrancy were concerns for 60% of the participants.

Intention to immigration and its relationship with workload and healthy work environment in nurses

“…The results of present study showed that, the mean score of intention to immigration in nurses was 65.59%. Results reported by numerous studies in other countries indicate that, the nurses' intention to immigration is high, and a large percentage of nurses in developing countries wish to immigrate to developed countries (Santric-Milicevic et al, 2015;Gea -Caballero et al, 2019). The study of intention to immigration in nursing students in South Korea showed similar results (Lee and Moon, 2013;Lee, 2016).…”

“…This result may be related to job security, which is higher in permanently employed nurses. However, similar studies conducted in other countries suggest that one of the reasons for nurses' immigration to other countries is the lack of job security (Gea-Caballero et al, 2019), and achieving better job opportunities in the destination country (Dywili et al, 2013). Therefore, it seems that people with less experience and nonpermanent employment are less dependent on their job and organization and are looking for a more stable situation and higher job security.…”

Emigration and job security: An analysis of workforce trends for Spanish‐trained nurses (2010–2015)

“…Granero‐Lazaro et al () point out that the non‐renewal of contracts is one of the greatest causes of unemployment in nursing. Other research shows that new nursing graduates list unemployment and lack of job security among their motives for emigrating (Gea‐Caballero et al, ; Jiménez, Fernández, & Granados, ), but these factors encourage some nurses to seek further education in Spain (Abades et al, ).…”

“…We follow other scholars in positing that labour markets drive migration through the supply and demand of employment and working conditions in different countries (Massey et al, ; O'Reilly, ; Wickramasinghe & Wimalaratana, ). In general, health professionals who emigrate are motivated by the opportunity for better salaries and quality of life, and their movement is usually from poor countries to rich ones (Salami, Nelson, Hawthorne, Muntaner, & McGillis Hall, ; for the Spanish case, see Gea‐Caballero et al, ). Other research in this line has found that one factor driving the migration of health professionals is the worldwide scarcity of health professionals (Buchan, ).…”

“…Job security, which is threatened by both unemployment and casual employment, is linked to the emigration of Spanish nurses (Galbany‐Estragués & Nelson, ; Gea‐Caballero et al, ). One element that undermines job security is “precarious work,” defined as work that is uncertain, unstable and insecure from the workers’ point of view (Kalleberg, ).…”