“Why should I have come here?” - a qualitative investigation of migration reasons and experiences of health workers from sub-Saharan Africa in Austria

Abstract

BackgroundThere are many health professionals from abroad working in the European Union and in Austria. The situation of sub-Saharan health workers in particular has now been studied for the first time. The objective was to explore their reasons for migration to Austria, as well as their personal experiences concerning the living and working situation in Austria.MethodsWe conducted semi-structured, qualitative interviews with African health workers. They were approached via professional networks and a snowball system. The interviews were transcribed and analysed using atlas.ti.ResultsFor most of our participants, the decision to migrate was not professional but situation dependent. Austria was not their first choice as a destination country. Several study participants left their countries to improve their overall working situation. The main motivation for migrating to Austria was partnership with an Austrian citizen. Other immigrants were refugees. Most of the immigrants found the accreditation process to work as a health professional to be difficult and hindering. This resulted in some participants not being able to work in their profession, while others were successful in their profession or in related fields. There have been experiences of discrimination, but also positive support.ConclusionsAustria is not an explicit target country for health workers from sub-Saharan Africa. Most of the study participants experienced bad work and study conditions in their home countries, but they are in Austria mostly because of personal connections. The competencies of those who are here are not fully utilised. The major reason is Austria’s current resident and work permit regulations concerning African citizens. In addition, the accreditation process and the German language appear to be barriers.

Experiences of registered nurses from a refugee background: A scoping review

“…This anti-foreigner sentiment was experienced by participants who reported that they experienced discrimination, subordination and racism during resettlement from both patients and staff (Grant, 2014;Stewart, 2003;Winkelmann-Gleed & Seeley, 2005;Yang, 2009). This was similar in the findings of articles that do not explicitly describe the registration status of nurses that are refugees (Brandt, 2010;Dumper, 2002;Jirovsky, Hoffmann, Maier, & Kutalek, 2015). Yang (2009) •New purposeful role in workplace b •Gaining self confidence and self esteem b…”

“…The majority of positive experiences reported in this review were based on the nurses' resilience and optimistic determination to continue pursuing their aspired career in nursing (Brandt, 2010;Dumper, 2002;Grant, 2014;Jirovsky et al, 2015;Smith & Smyer, 2015;Winkelmann-Gleed, 2006). In a related study, Brandt (2010) found This paper is important as it highlights the similar negative challenging factors that impact IENs is also faced by refugees and those aspiring to become RNs in a new host country.…”

“…In the workplace, positive reinforcement and acknowledgement of the nurses' role from peers, facilitated integration into the workplace (Jirovsky et al, 2015). Winkelmann-Gleed and Seeley (2005) and Grant (2014) showed that nurses who added value in the workplace and had additional roles such as a translator for staff and patients were rewarded and given a boost in self-esteem, and developed a sense of importance and purpose in their workplace.…”

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Understanding the Healthcare Experiences and Needs of African Immigrants in the United States: A Scoping Review

“…Also, the healthcare experiences needs of African immigrants are not universal. Research has shown there is considerable variation in healthcare experiences across populations (7,8). Immigrants are twice as likely as their US-born counterparts to lack health insurance.…”